Once Upon A Time
by Lizzy100
Summary: A collection of OUAT fanfics I've done. There'll be more coming soon now that I'm not doing online classes anymore.
1. I'd Come For You

I'd Come For You

Characters: Emma, Hook

Summary: Set in S2-4. Just a Hooemma tribute. All three seasons of them. Based on the song "I'd Come For You" by Nickelback.

Pairings:

Hooemma

*Tallahassee*

Just one moment

That's all that's needed

Like wounded soldiers

In need of healing

It was a dark night, as Emma and Hook looked around the giant's castle after knocking him out, looking for the compass. They were working together, even though they had just met.

When Hook wasn't paying attention to where he was going and Emma saw that there was a trip wire, she warned him saying, "Hook!" Then they ended up with her arms around him, keeping him from stepping on it.

When he made a comment, she corrected him by informing him, "Trip wire."

She looked down at it and he did the same and then looked at her, savoring the moment. In pirate perspective, he fancied her and through she'd make a pretty good pirate someday.

He smiled at the moment.

She let go of him and began to walk away.

"Let's just get the compass and get out of here."

After they came back down from the beanstalk and they were standing in front of each other he said, "Let me see your hand."

After a moment of hesitation, she held her hand out to him, palm up, and he gently held it still as he poured some of his rum onto the wound.

"This is a waste of perfectly good rum," he commented, as he did so. He then used a rag to tie around her hand. "There." He let go of her hand and she put it down.

*Ariel*

Time to be honest

This time I'm pleading

Please don't dwell on it

'Cause I didn't mean it

I can't believe I said

I'd lay our love on the ground

But it doesn't matter

'Cause I made it up

Forgive me now

Everyday I spent away

My soul's inside out

Gotta be someway

That I can make it up

To you now some how

It was a dark night on Neverland island, as Hook and Prince Charming walked side by side, talking. At one point, Hook told him, "I kissed Emma."

After a little bit of a speech, Charming replied saying, "You're nothing but a pirate," telling Hook that Emma would never fall for him.

*Dark Hollow*

By now you know that

I'd come for you

No one but you

Yes, I'd come for you

But only if you told me to

I'd fight for you

I'd lie, it's true

Give my life for you

You know I'd always come for you

I was blindfolded

But now I'm seeing

My mind was closing

Now I'm believing

I finally know just what it means

To let someone in

To see the side of me that no one does or ever will

So, if you're ever lost and find yourself all alone

I'd search forever just to bring you home

Here and now this I vow

"When I win your heart, and I will win it, it won't be because of any trickery," he told Emma, while they were alone in the woods, still on the Neverland island.

*Kansas*

By now you know that

I'd come for you

No one but you

Yes, I'd come for you

But only if you told me to

I'd fight for you

I'd lie, it's true

Give my life for you

I'd always come for you

No matter what gets in my way

As long as there's still life in me

No matter what

Remember you know I'll always come for you

After telling Emma to choose between keeping her magic or saving Hook and after drowning Hook in the well, Zelena disappeared with a cloud of smoke.

After Zelena disappeared, Emma didn't hesitate to run towards Hook and pull him out of the well. She then gently lay him down on the ground on his back.

"Hook, wake up. Hook. Killian, wake up," she called.

After a few minutes of nothing, she kissed him, giving him some air to revive him.

After a few minutes, he coughed, revived. He then looked up at her.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"I just saved your life," she answered him.

*Snow Drifts/There's No Place Like Home*

Yes, I'd come for you

No one but you

Yes, I'd come for you

But only if you told me to

And I'd come for you

No one but you

Yes, I'd come for you

But only if you told me to

I'd fight for you

I'd lie, it's true

Give my life for you

You know I'd always come for you

No matter what gets in my way

As long as there's still life in me

No matter what

Remember you know I'll always come for you

I'd crawl across this world for you

Do anything you want me to

No matter what

Remember you know I'll always come for you

You know I'll always come for you

As the portal to the fairytale land opened up, Hook used his hooked hand to dig into the sand and Emma held on to a part of the ground, but the portal was too strong and she got sucked into the portal.

"One of these days I'm going to stop chasing this woman," Hook commented, before letting go of the ground with his hooked hand, following her through the portal.

That night, their plan went awry and while Emma was making out with the past Hook who still had his hand, present day Hook knocked him out with his hooked hand.

Emma looked at him.

"Are you kissing me? How is that not going to have consequences?" she said with a raised voice.

"He'll blame it on the rum," he replied. "Let's just get out of here before he wakes up."

After getting home to Storybrooke, they sat down outside of Granny's Diner and talked.

"Well, the Jolly Roger, of course," he told her.

"You traded your ship for me?" Emma asked, surprised.

"Aye," he replied.

A moment later, they kissed.


	2. What Hurts The Most

Once Upon A Time: What Hurts The Most

Characters: Killian/Hook, Emma, Belle, Granny, Regina, Rumple

Summary: Set in S5. This is a tribute to Emma and Hook. I hope you enjoy.

Pairings:

Hook/Emma

*5x1 Part 1-Beginning*

I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house

That don't bother me

I can take a few tears every now and then and just let them out

I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while

Even though goin' on with you gone still upsets me

There are days every now and again I pretend I'm okay

But that's not what gets me

It was a dark night in Storybrooke, as Hook stood in the street with the dagger in hand that could control whoever was The Dark One. In this world, after Emma had saved Regina from the Darkness, Hook believed that Emma was now The Dark One; Not Rumplestiltskin or, like he liked to refer Gold to, The Crocodile.

"What are you doing?" Regina questioned from a ways behind him.

"Summoning her."

"It's not like she disappeared on a unicorn. She vaporized in a cloud of dark magic. I would think that you'd be smarter than that."

"I can summon her. I know what I'm doing. I dealt with The Crocodile for more than a decade," he said, before trying to summon her. "I summon you, Dark One." After a few times, he put his arm down. "I don't understand. Why isn't it working?"

"Isn't it obvious? She's not in this world anymore," Regina sympathized with him.

He turned around to finally look at the reformed Evil Queen. All he wanted was Emma back; The Savior. She was his happy ending. He couldn't lose her. Not after everything they had gone through for the past three years.

*5x1-Granny's Diner*

What hurts that most was being so close

And havin' so much to say

And watchin' you walk away

And never knowin' what could've been

And not seein' that lovin' you

Is what I was trying to do

It's hard to deal with the pain of losin' you everywhere I go

But I'm doing it

It's hard to force a smile when I see out old friends and I'm alone

Still harder getting' up, getting' dressed, livin' with this regret

But I know if I could do it over

I would trade, give away all the words that I saved in my heart

That I left unspoken

It was a dark night, as Hook sat at the bar on the bar stool in Granny's Diner, drinking from his flask that was filled with Whiskey, drinking away his pain. That's when Belle found him and went to sit by him.

"You know, Granny'll give you a glass if you ask," she told him. "Did you try to kiss her?" she added, changing the subject.

"Aye," he answered. He took another drink from his flask, before adding, "She didn't even flitch."

"I'm sorry," she said, knowing what it felt like after everything she had gone through with trying to make Rumple into a better man and trying to save him from the Darkness.

"It's not over. I spent over a century trying to kill the bloody Crocodile. I can spend at least that long trying to save the woman I love."

*5x2-The Kiss*

What hurts the most

Was being so close

And havin' so much to say

And watchin' you walk away

And never knowin' what could've been

And not seein' that lovin' you

Is what I was trying to do, oh

What hurts the most

Was being so close

And havin' so much to say

And watchin' you walk away

And never knowin' what could've been

And not seein' that lovin' you

Is what I was trying to do

It was a dark night, as they kissed in the house that was now her place.

A few minutes later, he pulled away and looked at her.

"It didn't work. Why didn't it work?"

He had expected their kiss to turn her back into herself, instead of being The Dark One.

"It didn't work, because I'm The Dark One," she answered him, getting what he meant.

A few minutes later, he walked away. He would have to try another plan to get her rid of the Darkness that flowed through her.

That's what I was trying to do, ooh


	3. Say Something

Say Something

Characters: Emma, Hook, Dark One, Henry, Regina, Snow, Charming, Nume, Rumple, Belle, Robin, First Dark Ones

Summary: Set in S5. After getting caught up in S5, this came to mind. Based on the song "Say Something, I'm Giving Up On You."

Pairings:

Hooemma

*New Dark One*

 _Say Something_

 _I'm giving up on you_

 _I'll be the one_

 _If you want me to_

It was a beautiful day in the forest, as Emma knelt at Hook's side. He was dying and very close to death, but he didn't want her to use any sort of magic to turn him into The Dark One. He had spent over a century fighting the darkness. He wasn't strong enough to resist if he was The Dark One. When he was nearly dead though, she went against his wishes. Everyone close to her had always ended up dying. She didn't want to lose him. She had lost so many people throughout her life. She couldn't bear to lose Killian, too. So she did what she had to do to save him. She turned him into The Dark One.

Later, when he was The Dark One and she wasn't being straight with him, he decided to walk away from her, despite her calling his name to stop him from leaving.

When she found him in the heart of the forest, they argued, him thinking that she didn't trust him anymore, which wasn't true at all.

*Emma Saved*

 _Anywhere_

 _I would've followed you_

 _Say something_

 _I'm giving up on you_

 _And I_

 _I'm feeling so small_

 _It was over my head_

 _I know nothing at all_

After getting home and after Emma was saved from the darkness, everyone found out that Hook was the new Dark One and the most evil of all, unable to resist temptation; the lure of darkness. They did everything they could to break the hold that the darkness had on Killian.

*The Sacrifice*

 _And I_

 _Will stumble and fall_

 _I'm still learning to love_

 _Just starting to crawl_

 _Say something_

 _I'm giving up on you_

 _I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you_

 _Anywhere_

 _I would've followed you_

 _Say something_

 _I'm giving up on you_

 _And I_

 _Will swallow my pride_

 _You're the one that I love_

 _And I'm saying goodbye_

 _Say something_

 _I'm giving up on you_

The night that the first ever Dark Ones marked the living for the underworld; apart from Hook of course, everyone met at the river to try and at least save Hook, or to even stop him and the first Dark Ones.

When Emma tried to talk him out of it, one of the first Dark Ones, Nume, used magic on her.

"I may not be able to kill you, but I can keep you quiet," Nume said, as she held out her hand while using magic, tightening her throat.

Emma put a hand on her own chest, as she tried to breathe and looked at Hook, who looked back at her, watching her struggle with breathing. Then, just as she thought that he wasn't going to stop it and that she would die, and just moments before she would lose her balance and when her vision was blurry from lack of oxygen, she heard him tell her to stop.

"Stop it," Hook ordered Nume.

Nume continued to make it hard for Emma to breathe, not heeding him.

He took the Excalibur sword from its sheath and used it on the Dark Ones to save Emma, putting them in the sword. He then looked at her.

"I can't hold the darkness inside the caliber for long," he told her, before telling her to kill him.

As they kissed, she knew it was the only way to get rid of the darkness for good. So, even though she didn't want to do it, she killed him with the Excalibur. Then she let it fall to the ground and she fell to her knees in tears, heartbroken, as everyone else watched and Henry hugged her in comfort, nobody having anything to say. There was nothing to say to make her feel better. She had just watched the man that she loved die, yet again. Only time could heal.


	4. Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast

Characters: Belle, Rumpelstiltskin, Regina, Maleficent, Zelena, Hook, Robin Hood, Snow White, Prince Charming, Neal/Bae, Jefferson/Mad Hatter, Cruella Devil, Ursula, ogres, Belle's father, The Dark One, Emma, Henry, Peter Pan, Snow Queen, the Wraith, Lacey, Will Scarlett, Isaac, Blue

Summary: Set in S1-5. Here is a tribute to Belle and Rumple. This is their love story, from beginning to present.

Pairings:

Bellumple

*New Caretaker*

It was a beautiful day, as Rumpelstiltskin gave Belle directions at his Dark Castle, making her the caretaker. It was a part of the deal she had made with him to save her father and town from the ogres. As he gave her directions, she accidentally dropped the teacup in her hand, chipping it.

*The Wand*

Belle was alone in the castle, when a stranger came in; Robin. He tried to steal the want, but then Rumple appeared and stopped him. He then chained him up in a dungeon-like room. Then, later on, after he had gone, she went to the room and freed him. He then found out that she did that and tried to get her to use a bow and arrow to kill Robin, but she refused. She could never kill anyone like The Dark One could.

*The Magic Gauntlet*

While Belle was outside doing laundry, she was captured by Maleficent, Ursula, and Cruella for ransom so they could get the magic gauntlet from The Dark One. They told him to meet them on Demon's Bluff at midnight, in which he did. He gave them the gauntlet and Belle was given back to him, but he later got the gauntlet back.

*Birthday*

One day, while The Dark One was in a chair at the table remembering Bae's Birthday, Belle interrupted him and asked him what he was thinking about. He told her that it's his son's Birthday and that he lost someone, but that he wasn't dead.

*The Kiss and Banishment*

One day, while she was out and about at the market, Regina found her and told her about True Love's kiss, since Regina wanted Rumple to be weakened. So, when she returned to him, she kissed him, which enraged him. He even accused her of working with Regina to weaken him and banished her from the castle.

Later, on her way back to him, she was captured by Regina and locked away. Then, when she told Rumple that Belle committed suicide, he believed her and in grief, promoted the chipped cup to a place of honor in his collection.

*Love and Vengeance*

After the curse and everyone was brought to Story Brooke, Jefferson, also known as the Mad Hatter from Wonderland, released Belle from her prison and told her to tell Gold what Regina did to her, in which she did. After she did, though her memories had not been restored yet, Gold told her that he would protect her. Then, after he brought magic to Story Brooke to find his son, Bae, he used it to immediately give Belle's memories back to her and they confessed their love to each other.

After she made him promise not to use magic, he did anyway and, in vengeance, marked Regina for the Wraith.

Later, in vengeance of everything he had done to him in the past, Hook shot Belle at the town line and though Rumple healed her, she lost her memories for a little while.

*The Shawl*

One night, when no one was at the shop, Hook stole Bae's shawl, but on the Jolly Roger, Belle got it back by knocking him out with an oar.

*Reunion*

After Rumple, Emma, and Henry found Bae who was Neal in this world in New York, Rumple found out that Henry was his grandson and Henry found out that his father was Bae.

Later, they headed to Story Brooke.

*Failed True Love's Kiss*

After Belle lost her memories again, he tried to get her memories back with True Love's Kiss. When that didn't work, he tried to enchant the chipped cup of tea.

After Regina gave her her cursed name, Lacey, he tried to get her to fall in love with him.

*Resurrection*

After her memories had been restored and Rumple sacrificed himself to save Henry from Peter Pan, Regina's sister, Zelena, brought him back to life and she began to control him. Then, after everyone found out, Belle did her best to remove him from her control which, after a while, worked.

*The Proposal*

A while later, Rumple proposed to her and they got married and went on their honeymoon, but after the Snow Queen appeared in Story Brooke and caused trouble, Rumple had to save Belle from the mirror, before it could turn her into her worst self. Then, after he tried to crush Hook's heart and was stopped by Belle, she banished him from Story Brooke.

*The Heart Attack*

After Rumple went to Bae's apartment in New York, he had a heart attack and Neal had to take him to a hospital, only for Zelena to save his life. Then, on his quest to find out who the author of Henry's _Once Upon A Time_ book was, he returned to Story Brooke with Ursula, Cruella, and Maleficent. Then, a while later, he saw Belle and Will Scarlett kiss.

*Preservation Spell*

A while after pretending to be Hook and getting the dagger from Belle, his heart began to weaken him and he used the author to create an alternate universe where villains could get their happy endings, but Henry had Isaac reverse it and Belle found Rumple in the shop, out. Because he was dying from too much darkness in his heart, the apprentice removed Rumple's powers and the darkness inside him, before putting him in a preservation spell. Then Blue gave Belle a rose in a glass jar that was linked to Rumple's life.

*Hero*

When Rumple woke up, it was because of Emma, who was the new Dark One. She wanted him to become a sort of hero, needing a hero to pull the Excalibur from its stone, and he succeeded, being forced when Belle's life was threatened. So, after some change of events, he became an anti-hero and helped in saving the world from the first Dark Ones and restoring Emma to her true self.

In the end, after everything that had happened, Belle stayed with him, never leaving his side, and so their story continued on.


	5. Love Story

Love Story

Characters: Regina, Daniel, Robin, Cora, Zelena, Miriam, Emma, Henry, Roland, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin/The Dark One, Belle, Bae, Tinkerbelle/The Fairy, Wraith, Peter Pan, Greg, flying monkey, Isaac, Robin's baby girl

Summary: Set in S1-5. A tribute to their journey of falling in love and being there for one another in their time of need.

Pairings:

Robgina

Roblena

Degina

Robiriam

Bellumple

It was a beautiful day, as Regina stood by a window outside the bar, watching the guy with the tattoo on his arm. She was trying to summon the courage to go inside and speak with him, but was uncertain. What exactly would she say to him? That a fairy told her that they were destined to be together? As she watched some more, her hope for happiness shattered, when a girl in a red robe approached him and they kissed. That's when she figured that she was destined to forever be alone and unhappy. So, not wanting to see any more, she walked away to go back home.

When the fairy returned that night and asked Regina how it went, Regina informed Tinkerbelle who then apologized, believing that she had been wrong about Regina's soulmate.

After a while of unhappiness and being controlled as much as possible by her mother, Cora, and after having to watch her mother kill the love of her life, Daniel, she found an old book in Cora's room and summoned The Dark One, though she had trouble pronouncing his name. So, when he appeared, he corrected her, telling her how to pronounce it. Then, from then on, after teaching her enough magic to send Cora away through a mirror to Wonderland, she became queen. Then he taught her more magic, because she asked and she thirsted for the power that Dark magic comes with. Soon, she had caused destruction throughout the lands and became known as the Evil Queen. Then, soon enough, she finished her training, not needing him anymore.

After a while, her sister, Zelena, tried to kill her, but failed. Then, after getting all the ingredients to make it, The Dark One chose her to cast the curse. Soon after, just in spite, she captured Belle and locked her away in a tower, knowing Rumple was falling for her but hiding it. She then told him that Belle was dead.

After casting the spell and sending only certain people to Story Brooke without their memories, Regina created the curse and soon adopted a baby she named Henry, having always wanted to be a mother.

Ten years later, after the curse was broken by Emma, the Savior, and after everyone had been reunited and their memories back, magic was brought to Story Brooke after Belle was freed and The Dark One found out the truth. Then, in revenge, Regina was marked for the Wraith by The Dark One. The Wraith was a creature that took the living marked ones to the underworld. The plan soon failed, though.

After everyone found out that Bae was Henry's dad, Emma was Henry's biological mother, and The Dark One was Henry's grandfather, Henry was saved from Peter Pan and Regina was tortured by a guy who hunted down and anyone with magic; Greg. Then, after being rescued, she destroyed the curse and met face to face with the guy with the tattoo; Robin Hood. Then she saved his son, Roland, from a flying monkey and Robin did the same for her.

After Zelena was defeated, Regina and Robin began to date and Miriam came to town. Then Miriam was put under a sleeping spell that Regina and Robin tried to save her from. Then, after Miriam was better, Regina and Robin spent that night in Regina's vault, Robin torn between his love for both Miriam and Regina. Then Robin left with Miriam and Roland, breaking Regina's heart, and after Regina and Robin found out that Miriam had been Zelena all that time, and was pregnant with his child, Regina and Robin returned to Story Brooke with Roland.

After an alternate universe was created by Isaac, the new author of the _Once Upon A Time_ book, Robin saved Regina from Snow White. Then, after Regina was stabbed with a sword by The Dark One, trying to save Henry from him in which she succeeded in, Zelena and Robin's wedding was stopped when Robin left to go help Regina.

After everyone returned to Story Brooke, Regina was alive and Zelena was put in jail. Then, months later, when Emma was the new Dark One and sped up Zelena's pregnancy to make Zelena the Dark One but failed, Zelena and Robin had a little baby girl.

In the end, after everything that they had been through, Robin and Regina finally got their happy ending.


	6. Your Hero

Your Hero

Characters: Robin, Regina, Charming, Snow, Henry, The Dark One, King Arthur, flying monkeys, Roland

Summary: Set in S2-5. Just a Robin and Regina tribute based on the song "Hero."

Pairings:

Robgina

*5x2*

 _Would you dance_

 _If I asked you to dance?_

 _Would you run_

 _And never look back?_

 _Would you cry_

 _If you saw me crying?_

 _Would you save my soul tonight?_

It was a dismal night as Charming and Snow worked with Regina to save Robin from being taken to the underworld by a creature that takes those to the underworld who should have died and the price has not been paid in magical terms to keep that person from being taken to the underworld.

*Vault*

 _Would you tremble_

 _If I touched your lips?_

 _Would you laugh?_

It was a dismal night in her vault, as they made out, which led to spending the night together in her vault.

*No Place Like Home*

 _Oh, please tell me this_

 _Now would you die_

 _For the one you love?_

 _Hold me in your arms tonight_

 _I can be your hero, baby_

 _I can kiss away the pain_

 _I will stand by you forever_

 _You can take my breath away_

It was a beautiful day in the alternate universe, as Regina lay on her back on the ground, having been stabbed by The Dark One when she was saving Henry. Robing went to her aid when he saw her, Then they were all suddenly back in Story Brooke and she was uninjured and alive.

*Camelot Ball*

 _Would you swear_

 _That you'll always be mine?_

 _Or would you lie?_

 _Would you run and hide?_

 _Am I in too deep?_

 _Have I lost my mind?_

 _I don't care…_

 _You're here tonight_

It was a dark night as everyone, including Regina and Robin, danced at the ball in King Arthur's castle.

*Flying Monkeys*

 _I can be your hero, baby_

 _I can kiss away the pain_

 _I will stand by you forever_

 _You can take my breath away_

 _Oh, I just want to hold you_

 _I just want to hold you, oh, yeah_

 _Am I in too deep?_

 _Have I lost my mind?_

 _Well, I don't care…_

 _You're here tonight_

After Regina had saved Robin's son Roland, from a flying monkey, it was Robin's turn to save her from one with his bow and arrow.

 _I can be your hero, baby_

 _I can kiss away the pain_

 _I will stand by you forever_

 _You can take my breath away_

 _I can be your hero_

 _I can kiss away the pain_

 _And I will stand by you forever_

 _You can take my breath away_

 _You can take my breath away_

 _I can be your hero_


	7. Only Human

Only Human

Characters: Hook, Emma, Regina, Snow, The Dark One, King Arthur

Summary: Set in S2-5. Based on the song "Only Human."

Pairings:

Hooemma

*The Dance*

 _I can hold my breath_

 _I can bite my tongue_

 _I can stay awake for days_

 _If that's what you want_

 _Be your number one_

 _I can fake a smile_

 _I can force a laugh_

 _I can dance and play the part_

 _If that's what you ask_

 _Give you all I am_

 _I can do it_

 _I can do it_

 _I can do it_

It was a dark night at Camelot in King Arthur's castle in the ballroom, as Emma and Captain Hook, also known as Killian Jones, danced together. It was their first dance together, though Killian had danced at many balls and even on his own ship, the Jolly Roger.

*Tallahassee*

 _But I'm only human_

 _And I bleed when I fall down_

 _I'm only human_

It was a dark night by the town line, as Hook tried to avoid getting hit by a car racing down the road, but he didn't succeed and got ran over. The car landed in the ditch and Hook landed on the side of the road.

Later, he was informed that he had some broken ribs.

*I Just Watched The Man I Love Die*

 _And I crash and I break down_

 _Your words in my head_

 _Knives in my heart_

 _You build me up and then I fall apart_

 _I'm only human_

Emma stood by Regina in the forest in the alternate universe after watching Hook die at the hands of Snow, her mother.

"I just watched the man that I love die, and the worst part is that I never told him I loved him; not once."

*Snow Drifts*

 _I can turn it on_

 _Be a good machine_

 _I can hold the weight of worlds_

 _If that's what you need_

 _Be your everything_

 _I can do it_

 _I can do it_

 _I'll get through it_

 _But I'm only human_

It was a beautiful day, as Emma tried to hang on with the portal opened up, Hook hanging on to the solid ground with his hooked hand. She lost her hold though, and fell through. So, making up his mind to go in after her, he let go with his hooked hand.

"One of these days I'm going to stop chasing this woman," he commented, before letting go.

*Poor Unfortunate Soul*

 _And I bleed when I fall down_

 _I'm only human_

 _And I crash and I break down_

 _Your words in my head_

 _Knives in my heart_

 _You build me up and then I fall apart_

 _I'm only human_

 _I'm only human_

 _I'm only human_

 _Just a little human_

Hook and Emma stood outside on the street by Granny's Diner and looked at each other.

"You're my happy ending, Emma," he confessed to her.

*Broken*

 _I can take so much_

 _Until I've had enough_

' _Cause I'm only human_

 _And I bleed when I fall down_

 _I'm only human_

 _And I crash and I break down_

 _Your words in my head_

 _Knives in my heart_

 _You build me up and then I fall apart_

' _Cause I'm only human_

It was a dismal night by the river as Emma fell to her knees in grief, Hook dead. She had tried to keep him alive by turning him into The Dark One, but now he was dead. She felt like her world had shattered because, yet another loved one had died. She had lost so many people in her life. Now Killian, too.


	8. Please Don't Go

Please Don't Go

Characters: Belle, Rumple, Hook, The Dark One, Bae/Neal, Apprentice, Emma

Summary: Set in S2-5. Based on the song "Please Don't Go."

Pairings:

Bellumple

*Town Line Banishment*

 _Let's run away from these lies_

 _Back to yesterday_

 _Safe tonight_

 _I feel the sun creepin' up like tick tock_

 _I'll try to keep you in my head but if not_

 _We'll just keep running from tomorrow_

 _With our lips locked_

It was a beautiful day, as Rumple and Belle stood by the town line, Belle using the dagger to banish him from Story Brooke, Rumple begging her not to. He had used magic after she had made him promise not to. Worse, he had nearly killed Hook by almost crushing his heart. She was the only reason that Hook was still alive.

*Coma*

 _Yeah, you've got me begging, begging_

 _Baby please don't go_

 _If I wake up tomorrow, will you still be here?_

 _I don't know, if you feel the way I do_

It was a beautiful day in Story Brooke in the shop in the back, as Belle watched over him. The apprentice had taken the darkness out of his heart and put him in a preservation spell. Now he was in some kind of coma. She didn't want anything to happen to him, but if he did go, she wanted to be at his side. She didn't want him to be alone. He didn't deserve that and she was determined that he wouldn't be.

*Lacey*

 _If you leave I'm going to find you_

 _Baby please don't go, go, go_

 _Baby please don't go, go, go_

 _Baby please don't go, go, go_

 _Baby please don't, baby please don't_

 _Baby please don't run away from my bed_

 _Start another day instead_

 _I feel the sun creepin' up like tick tock_

 _I'll try to keep you in my head, but if not_

 _We'll just keep running from tomorrow_

 _With our lips locked_

After she lost her memories and thought her named was Lacey, she began acting the opposite of herself. It appalled Rumple, but he said nothing for a while. Then he caught her kissing a guy named William, so he told her the truth of who she was and why she only had false memories. He even told her in summary that they were in love, but she rejected him until her real memories were finally restored.

*Heart Attack*

 _Yeah, you've got me begging, begging_

 _Baby please don't go_

 _If I wake up tomorrow, will you still be here?_

 _I don't know, if you feel the way I do_

 _If you leave I'm going to find you_

 _Baby please don't go, go, go_

 _Baby please don't go, go, go_

 _Baby please don't go, go, go_

 _Baby please don't, baby please don't_

Rumple was in New York inside his son's apartment, having an argument with him. His named was Bae in their world, but in this world, it was Neal. When he told his father to go and he didn't, they argued some more. That's when his father had a heart attack because of too much darkness in his heart, and Neal had to take him to the hospital.

*Danger*

 _Running from tomorrow_

 _I stay running from tomorrow_

 _I stay running from tomorrow_

 _I stay running from tomorrow_

 _Baby please don't go_

 _If I wake up tomorrow, will you still be here?_

 _I don't know, if you feel the way I do_

 _If you leave I'm going to find you_

Belle was in the library, when the elevator starting coming down to the floor she was on. She didn't know who was in the elevator, so she stood in front of it and waited for it to open.

When it opened, it was Rumple.

She helped him to a chair, since he didn't have his cane with him, and he told her that the new Dark One wanted him to find her, as soon as he realized it for himself.

"Belle, you're in danger," he informed her.

He had been The Dark One for so long, it was as easy as putting a puzzle together, or conjuring magic of his own to figure out why The Dark One would let him go.

*Courageous*

 _Let's run away from these lies_

 _Back to yesterday_

 _Safe tonight_

 _I feel the sun creepin' up like tick tock_

 _Baby please don't run away_

Following the events leading up to the Savior being saved from the darkness and the dagger and Excalibur being reunited as one sword, Rumple became The Dark One against and a sort of anti-hero.


	9. Hard To Love (Rumbelle)

Hard To Love (Rumbelle)

Characters: Rumple, Belle, Regina (mentioned)

Summary: Set in S1, 2, and 3. Another Rumbelle songfic.

Pairings:

Rumbelle

*A Land Without Magic*

I am insensitive, I have a tendacy

To pay more attention to the things I need

Sometimes I drink too much, sometimes I test your trust

Sometimes I don't know why you stay with me

I'm hard to love, hard to love

No, I don't make it easy

I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood

You say that you need me

I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, good

I am a short fuse, I am a wrecking ball

Crashing into your heart like I do

You're like a Sunday morning, full of grace and full of Jesus

I wish I could be more like you

It was a beautiful day in the woods by the well, as Belle walked over to Rumple, having found him finally.

"I remember. I love you," she told him.

They hugged.

"I love you, too," he replied.

*Broken*

I'm hard to love, hard to love

No, I don't make it easy

I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood

I'm hard to love, hard to love

You say that you need me

I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, good

Love me, good

Girl, you've given me a million chances

And I don't wanna take you for granted

I'm just a man, I'm just a man

It was a nebulous night in the shop as they stood in front of each other.

"You lied to me," she stated.

"No. I kept my promise. **I** will not hurt Regina."

"No. You toy with words like you do people. I thought you'd changed. You're still a man that makes wrong choices."

"Belle, I'm sorry. I am."

He could only watch, as she left the shop.

*Kansas*

I'm hard to love, hard to love

Oh, no, I don't make it easy

And I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood

I'm hard to love, hard to love

And you say that you need me

I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, good

You love me, good

You love me, good

It was a dismal night in the shop, as they stood in front of each other.

"What are you saying?" she asked him.

"Belle, will you marry me?"

"Yes," she replied, before kissing him.

He kissed back.


	10. Hard To Love (OutlawQueen)

Hard To Love (OutlawQueen)

Characters: Regina, Robin, Zelena (mentioned), Rumple (mentioned), Henry (mentioned)

Summary: Set in S3. Just an OutlawQueen tribute.

Pairings:

OutlawQueen

*Family Business*

I am insensitive, I have a tendacy

To pay more attention to the things I need

Sometimes I drink too much, sometimes I test your trust

Sometimes I don't know why you stay with me

I'm hard to love, hard to love

No, I don't make it easy

I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood

You say that you need me

I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, good

I am a short fuse, I am a wrecking ball

Crashing into your heart like I do

You're like a Sunday morning, full of grace and full of Jesus

I wish I could be more like you

"You need to forget about me," Regina told him, as they stood in her vault.

"I can't just fall back in love with Miriam with **you** in my life," he said.

"Which is why I can't be in **your** life," she told him.

*No Place Like Home*

I'm hard to love, hard to love

No, I don't make it easy

I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood

I'm hard to love, hard to love

You say that you need me

I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, good

Love me, good

Girl, you've given me a million chances

And I don't wanna take that for granted

I'm just a man, I'm just a man

It was a beautiful day in the alternate universe, as Regina lay injured on the ground, having protected Henry from Rumple, Robin knelt by her.

A moment later, they were all back in the real world in Storybrooke, and Regina was just fine.

When Robin found her, he ran to her and they kissed.

*Bleeding Through*

I'm hard to love, hard to love

Oh, no, I don't make it easy

And I couldn't do it if I stood where you stood

I'm hard to love, hard to love

And you say that you need me

I don't deserve it but I love that you love me, good

You love me, good

You love me, good

It was a nebulous night in the woods, as they kissed after he'd apologized for her heart being taken by Rumple whom was under Zelena's control.


	11. Apologize

Apologize

Characters: Belle, Rumple, The Dark One

Summary: Set in S4 and 5. Just a songfic based on Enrigue's song "Apologize."

Pairings:

Bellumple

*Watching Over Him*

I'm holdin' on your rope

Got me ten feet off the ground

And I'm hearin' what you say

But I just can't make a sound

You tell me that you need me

Then you go and cut me down

But wait…

You tell me that you're sorry

Didn't think I'd turn around

And say…

That it's too late to apologize

It's too late…

I said it's too late to apologize

It's too late, too late, oh, oh…

It was a beautiful day in Story Brooke at the shop, as Belle looked at Rumple who was in a preservation spell in bed. She was seated on his bedside, as she watched over him, not wanting to leave his side. She wanted to be there in case he went or in case he woke up.

*Banishment At Town Line*

I'd take another chance

Take a fall, take a shot for you, oh, oh…

I need you like a heart needs a beat

But it's nothin' new, yeah!

I loved you with a fire red

Now it's turning blue

And you say…

Sorry, like an angel

Heaven let me think was you

But I'm afraid

It's too late to apologize

It's too late

I said it's too late to apologize

It's too late

It was a beautiful day, as Belle stood with the dagger to control him, about to banish him to keep everyone safe from him.

"Please, Belle. Don't do this," he begged her, as he took a few steps back. "I'm sorry," he added.

*No Place Like Home*

It was a beautiful day at the shop, as he stood not far from her, trying to convince her that he was trying to change and could change, if she would give him another chance.

*In Danger*

After The Dark One let Rumple go, he went straight to the library elevator, where he was found by Belle. It was what The Dark One wanted, which put Belle in danger. He knew that and informed her of it.

"What can I do?" she asked, wanting to help in any way possible.

"There's nothing you can do," he replied.


	12. True Love

True Love

Characters: Hook, Emma, Charming, Zelena, Regina

Summary: Set in S2-5. Based on the song "True Love."

Pairings:

CaptainSwan

*Broken*

Sometimes I hate every single stupid word you say

Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face

There's no one quite like you

You push all my buttons down

It was a beautiful day by the empty lake in fairytale land, as she and Hook sword fought. Then she smacked him, knocking him out.

*Kansas*

I know life would suck without you

At the same time, I wanna hug you

I wanna wrap my hands around your neck

You're an asshole but I love you

And you make me so mad I ask myself

Why I'm still here, or where could I go

You're the only love I've ever known

But I hate you, I really hate you

So much, I think it must be

True love, true love

It was a beautiful day, as she knelt at his side after pulling him out of the well Zelena had drowned him in with her magic.

"Hook, wake up. Killian!"

Not getting anything, she bent down and kissed him, bring him back.

*Swan Song*

It must be true love

Nothing else can break my heart like

True love, true love

It must be true love

No one else can break my heart like you

Emma fell to her knees in grief, as she cried, having had to kill him to get rid of the darkness. It broke her heart. She'd lost everyone she'd ever been in love with. Now she'd lost Killian too, as well.

*Poor unfortunate Soul*

Just once try to wrap your little brain around my feelings

Just once please try not to be so mean

Repeat after me R-O-M-A-N-C-E-E-E

Come on I'll say it slowly (Romance)

You can do it, baby

At the same time, I wanna hug you

I wanna wrap my hands around your neck

You're an asshole but I love you

And you make me so mad I ask myself

Why I'm still here, or where could I go

You're the only love I've ever known

But I hate you, I really hate you

So much, I think it must be

True love, true love

It was a dismal night in the street in front of the diner, as they talked.

"If you're afraid to lose your happy ending, then you've found it. What is it?" Emma said.

"Don't you know, Emma? It's you," he confessed.

*Operation Mongoose Part 2*

It must be true love

Nothing else can break my heart like

True love, true love

It must be true love

No one else can break my heart like you

It was a beautiful day, as they stood in front of the bed upstairs.

"How many times do I have to tell you, love? I'm a survivor," he said.

"I was afraid I'd never get to tell you something," she replied.

*Devil's Due*

(I love you, I think it must be love, I love you)

Why do you rub me the wrong way?

Why do you say the things you say?

Sometimes I wonder how we ever came to be

But without you I'm incomplete

As soon as they were at the house after Emma had rescued Hook from the river of lost souls, she put hands around his neck and kissed him.

He kissed back.

*Operation Mongoose Part 1*

I think it must be

True love, true love

It must be true love

Nothing else can break my heart like

True love, true love

It must be true love

And no one else can break my heart like you

It was a beautiful day inside the story book, as Emma stood in front of Regina, giving her a speech about finding your true love and that Regina's was inside that church. Then she added, "I just watched the man that I love die. But the worst part is that I never told him that I love him. Not even once. I was too afraid that it would make everything change."

*Ariel*

(Like you)

No one else can break my heart like you

(Like you)

No one else can break my heart like you

After Hook had saved Charming's life, Hook and Emma were standing in a part of the woods alone.

"I think gratitude is in order now," he said, giving her a look.

After a moment, she kissed him, in which he returned.

A few minutes later, she left him standing alone, happy that she'd finally kissed him. He'd been wanting that for the longest time.


	13. All I Need

All I Need

Characters: Robin, Regina, Tinkerbelle, Miriam, Zelena, Hades

Summary: Set in S3, 4, and 5. Based on the song "All I Need."

Pairings:

OutlawQueen

Mirobin (Miriam/Robin; mentioned)

Robin/Zelena (mentioned)

*Tavern*

I'm dying to catch my breath

Oh, why don't I ever learn?

I've lost all my trust, though I've surely tried to turn it around

Can you still see the heart of me?

It was a dismal night, as Regina Mills, having been told by Tinkerbelle that her true love was in the tavern, stood outside the tavern. She wanted to believe that she could find love again, but she had doubts about it.

"Look; there he is. The guy with the lion tattoo," Tinkerbelle said, pointing directly at the guy she would later know as Robin Hood of Locksley.

"That's him?" she said, her sprit lifting.

"Yes; That's him. Go on and meet him," Tinkerbelle urged her.

When Regina asked her to go, saying that she wanted to be left alone, Tinkerbelle obliged.

Regina was about to go in, afraid of what might happen, when she saw a girl come up to him and watched them kiss. Because of that, it upset her and she fled away from the tavern and back home.

*Camelot*

All my agony fades away

When you hold me in your embrace

Don't tear me down for all I need

Make my heart a better place

It was a nebulous night at the castle in Camelot, as Regina and Robin silently danced together, happy and content. She had finally gotten her happy ending with him.

*Smash The Mirror*

Give me something I can believe

Don't tear me down

You've opened the door now, don't let it close

It was a dark night in the library in Storybrooke as Regina and Robin stood in front of each other.

"What is it that you were so eager to show me?" she questioned.

He gave her a paper that showed him and Regina kissing outside of the tavern.

"What's this?" she asked, and unfolded it to see what the picture depicted.

"It's a possibility of a happy ending."

"Where'd this come from?" she questioned.

"I don't know. It just appeared in my bag."

After talking a few more minutes with her, he said, "We all get a second chance, Regina. You just have to open up your eyes to see it."

*Twisted Mister*

I'm here on the edge again

I wish I could let it go

I know that I'm only one step away from turning it around

Can you still see the heart of me?

It was a nebulous night, as Regina knelt by Robin's body after he'd been killed by Hades, and cried. As she did, Zelena knelt by her and tried to comfort her with a hug, in which Regina returned, Zelena also crying over Robin. Regina had loved him, but Zelena had had Robin's daughter.

*Family Business*

All my agony fades away

When you hold me in your embrace

Don't tear me down for all I need

Make my heart a better place

Give me something I can believe

Don't tear me down

Don't tear it down, what's left of me

Make my heart a better place

It was a dark night, as Robin and Regina made out in her vault after a curse had been lifted. They loved one another, but he was married to Miriam.

Afterward, when they were putting clothes back on, Regina told him, "This has to stop. You're married, Robin. What would it look like to your son?"

"It'll look messy," he said.

"You have to forget about me."

"I can't forget about you when you're in my life."

"Which is why I can't be in your life."

"That doesn't change that face that-" he started, and then said, "I don't know what to do! I can't just fall back into love with Miriam. I love you, Regina."

*Quiet Minds*

I tried many times but nothing was real

Make it fade away, don't break me down

I want to believe that this is real

Save me from my fear

Don't tear me down

Make my heart a better place

It was a beautiful day, as Regina stopped walking and caught the arrow that almost went through her head. She turned around to face the guy who stood a few feet away with a bow.

He held up a hand.

"Apologies, m'lady!" he said, loud enough for her to hear, before going to stand in front of her.

"Apology accepted."

She gave his arrow back to him.

He took it and told her, "I thought you were the wicked witch."

When she looked at him closely and saw the tattoo, she said, "Have we met before?"

"I doubt I'd ever forget meeting **you**."

*A Curious Thing*

Give me something I can believe

Make my heart a better place

Give me something I can believe

Give me something I can believe

Don't tear it down, what's left of me

Make my heart a better place

Make my heart a better place

It was a beautiful day at Regina's house, as they stood in front of each other.

"What do you see in me?" she asked him, curious.

"I believe the same thing you see in me. A second chance," Robin replied.


	14. Because Of You

Characters: Belle, Rumple, Peter Pan, Bae, apprentice, Belle's ex, and Hades

Summary: Set in S2, 3, and 5. Based on the song "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson.

Pairings:

Rumbelle

*Memories*

I will not make the same mistakes that you did

I will not let myself

Cause my heart so much misery

I will not break the way you did

You fell so hard

I've learned the hard way

To never let it get that far

It was a beautiful day in the shop, as Belle and Rumple kissed. Belle had just gotten her memories back after thinking that she was Lacey for a while.

*Broken*

Because of you

I never stray too far from the sidewalk

Because of you

I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt

Because of you

I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me

Because of you

I am afraid

I lose my way

And it's not long before you point it out

I cannot cry

Because I know that's weakness in your eyes

I'm forced to fake

A smile, a laugh every day of my life

My heart can't possibly break

When it wasn't even whole to start with

It was a beautiful day in the shop, as Rumple and Belle half talked and half argued. He was trying to convince her that he could change if she gave him a chance, but she wouldn't hear it.

"You toy with words like you do people. You're still a man that makes wrong choices. I thought you'd changed," she told him, before briskly walking towards the door to leave.

"Belle, I'm sorry. I am," he replied, but could only watch as she left the shop, unhappy with him.

*Going Home*

Because of you

I never stray too far from the sidewalk

Because of you

I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt

Because of you

I find it hard to trust not only me, but everyone around me

Because of you

I am afraid

I watched you die

I heard you cry every night in your sleep

After watching Rumple use the dagger to kill Peter Pan, which was plainly saving everyone and sacrificing himself, all Belle could do was stand there in the street and cry. Rumple, her true love, was dead.

*Quiet Minds*

I was so young

You should have known better than to lean on me

You never thought of anyone else

You just saw your pain

And now I cry in the middle of the night

For the same damn thing

It was a nebulous night, as Rumple and Belle stood in the shop, hugging after Rumple informed her of Bae's death, which broke him. Bae had been the only family he had. Now, without Belle, he'd be alone.

*Her Handsome Hero*

Because of you

I never stray too far from the sidewalk

Because of you

I learned to play on the safe side so I don't get hurt

Because of you

I try my hardest to forget everything

Because of you

I don't know how to let anyone else in

It was a gloomy day as always in the underworld. Rumple had just informed her inside the library that she was pregnant. She was happy about that but then she got mad because of a deal he had made when he had still been human. Now, if Rumple didn't work for Hades, Hades had threatened to take Belle's child.

After Belle and Rumple left the library and Rumple had locked up, they saw Belle's ex who her father had wanted her to marry back in the enchanted forest, a bow and arrow in hand. Then the guy shot it towards Rumple who caught it before it could hit him.

Later, Belle spoke with him and the guy had to ask her why she didn't want Rumple dead, in which she informed him, "He's my husband."

*Bad Heart*

Because of you

I'm ashamed of my life because it's empty

Because of you

I am afraid

Because of you

Because of you

It was a beautiful day, as Belle entered the shop after they had all come back to Storybrooke after Henry had undone everything that Rumple had had the author do.

"You came back," Rumple greeted her, one hand on the glass counter to stay on his feet, since his heart was weakening because of how much darkness was in his heart that could never be taken away.

"I came back to make sure you don't hurt anyone," Belle replied, before realizing that something was wrong. She walked up to him to stand in front of him. "What's wrong?"

He was able to inform her of the problem with his heart, before he collapsed.

Belle went to get help to save Rumple and the apprentice took the darkness out and put it in the hat and put Rumple in a preservation spell to keep him alive until he awakened. Then the fairy gave Belle a rose in a glass jar that was linked to Rumple's life. So, until he awakened, Belle stayed with him, wanting to be there either if he woke up or if he went.


	15. Her Handsome Hero

Her Handsome Hero

Characters: Rumple, Belle, Gaston

Summary: Set in S5E17 "Her Handsome Hero," when everyone was still in the underworld and Gaston tried to shoot a poisoned arrow at Rumple, but in my fanfic, it's not laced with anything from the River of Lost Souls. What if he succeeded? Can Belle save his life? What will happen?

Pairings:

Rumbelle

It was a gloomy day in the underworld, as Belle and Rumple left the library after he'd told her about a deal he'd made before he'd become the Dark One a long time ago. They'd had an argument due to her being pregnant with his child.

While they had their backs turned to Gaston, not knowing he was there yet, Gaston let a poisonous arrow fly towards Rumple.

When they both turned around after finishing talking, Rumple got hit by the arrow and used his hand on the wall of the library to keep from falling.

"Rumple!" Belle said and went to his left side and put an arm around him to help him.

She looked to see who had shot him with it, only to see Gaston, the guy she was supposed to marry back in the enchanted forest, but had never wanted to marry him nor did she ever get a chance to.

"Gaston!?" she said in a raised voice, surprised at who it was and angry at him for shooting Rumple. Just because she didn't exactly love Rumple anymore, he was still her husband and she didn't want anything to happen to him.

"What have you done?" Rumple questioned him, but he didn't answer Rumple.

Gaston informed Belle that Hades gave that arrow to him to take care of Rumple. He had a score to settle with Rumple from the past, so he was doing it for himself more than Hades.

Belle could only stand there and watch him walk away, nothing to say to him. She knew Rumple had done dastardly deeds in the past, but she also knew how easy it was to hate The Dark One. She could only imagine what Gaston was feeling. She knew that she had to get Rumple to this version of the shop so she could go after Gaston to try and reason with him. Maybe he would get the cure for her if she could get him to see that this wasn't the answer.

Once she had gotten him in the back of the shop in the bed and the arrow out, she left to go find Gaston to reason with him and get the cure. She wanted; needed Rumple alive. He was her husband, whether she still loved him or not. She may not love him anymore, but that didn't mean that she wanted him dead. She also didn't want him dead, because she didn't want to raise their child alone if she ever got to raise their child. She didn't know what she would do without Rumple if he died for good. A few years back, when he had temporarily died, it had nearly shattered her. Without Rumple alive, things wouldn't be the same.

She found Gaston in the back room of a place standing over a dummy with arrows in it that looked like Rumple. He looked mad that he had been tricked, which she figured that he probably was. Gaston wanted Rumple dead.

After half talking with him and half arguing with him and informing him that the reason that she doesn't want Rumple dead is because he's her husband, there wasn't really anything else to say so he left, but she knew he was still on a mission to kill Rumple.

Finally, after several more attempts at reasoning with him, Gaston revealed to her what the cure was and she got it with help from Zelena, since Hades had the cure and he had fallen for Zelena years or so ago. So, without further ado, she got the cure from Zelena and went to the shop to cure Rumple before he could die.

A while after he drank the liquid drink that was the cure, he was feeling better.

Later on that day, Gaston and Rumple met at the dock to settle the score, but Belle intervened. She tried to convince Gaston to pretty much get over his vengeance against Rumple, but he didn't heed and she ended up accidentally pushing him into the River of Lost Souls. She hadn't wanted to do that and she hadn't even met for that to happen, but at least Rumple was alive and okay. That's all that mattered.


	16. Broken (Rumatherine)

OUAT/VD: Broken (Rumatherine)

Characters: Rumple, Kat, Kai (mentioned), Elijah (mentioned), Nadia (mentioned), Klaus (mentioned), Elena (mentioned), Belle (mentioned), Travelers (mentioned)

Summary: Set in VD and OUAT S7. Kat appears, injured from her time in the prison world with Kai. After Rumple saves her, what will ensue? Based on "Broken" by Lifehouse.

Pairings:

Rumatherine

Rumbelle (mentioned)

A/N: There's no curse like S7 has shown, so everyone still lives in Storybrooke.

 _The broken clock is a comfort_

 _It helps me sleep tonight_

 _Maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time_

 _I am here still waiting, though I still have my doubts_

 _I am damaged at best_

 _Like you've already figured out_

 _I'm falling apart_

 _I'm barely breathing_

 _With a broken heart that's still beating_

 _In the pain_

 _There is healing_

 _In your name, I find meaning_

 _So I'm holdin' on_

It was a nebulous night, as a human Katherine appeared on the shoulder of the road. She'd just escaped the prison world and Kai, so she was quite injured. She had a dagger protruding from her thigh, an arrow was in her lower stomach, there were multiple other wounds, and there was blood on either side of her head. Despite her injuries and having trouble staying awake, she could still see that the road sign read _Welcome to Storybrooke_. After seeing that, everything went gray and then started to go black.

Rumple was walking down a road, but stopped when he saw someone laying on the shoulder of the road. It wasn't anything new. Once in a while, people would appear in town. Even from a distance, he could tell that she was injured, so he decided to help her. After all those years with Belle, he'd changed in a way.

When he knelt beside her, he saw that she was quite injured and was losing a lot of blood. It made him wonder what had happened to her and who had hurt her like this.

After pulling the arrow and dagger out and setting them on the ground, he hovered a hand over her wounds, healing her.

 _I'm holdin' on_

 _I'm barely holdin' on to you_

 _The broken locks were a warning you go inside my head_

 _I tried my best to be guarded_

 _I'm an open book instead_

 _I still see your reflection inside of my eyes_

 _That are looking for a purpose_

 _They're still looking for life_

 _I'm falling apart_

 _I'm barely breathing_

 _With a broken heart that's still beating_

 _In the pain (In the pain)_

 _Is there healing?_

 _In your name (In your name) I find meaning_

 _So I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on)_

The next day, when she woke up, she wasn't on the road anymore, but rather, in a bed.

She slowly sat up in bed, realizing she was completely healed, and went to investigate. She was curious as to who had saved her and what kind of town this was.

When she came from the back of the shop, she saw some guy in a suit. Because she was descended from Travelers, she could sense that he had magic.

Rumple entered his shop to see that she was awake.

He approached her, as he spoke.

"I see you're awake, dearie. I go by many name's, but people here call me Gold or Rumpelstiltskin. It's up to you what you'd like to call me. I saved your life as you've probably already figured out, but I'd like to know who you are and what happened."

"I've been known as many names too, but I'm Katherine Pierce. Only those that knew me when I was human the first time get to call me by my human name," she informed him. "I turned into a vampire 538 years ago, but on my doppelganger's high school graduation, I picked a fight with her in vengeance, figuring she was partly responsible for Elijah leaving, and she shoved the cure for vampirism down my throat before I could kill her. After the summer ended, my daughter, Nadia whom was torn from my arms for being illegitimate, found me. Then, after an immortal, Silas, drank the cure out of me, I began aging. Then I lost Nadia forever when she was bitten, since a werewolf bite to a vampire is deadly within 24 hours. My greatest enemy's blood is the cure, but I've always been afraid of Klaus. Besides, he'd never save her and Nadia just wanted me to be happy. She didn't want me to give anything up just to save her. Shortly after, I died and ended up in a prison world that a Gemini witch named Kai is trapped in. I escaped and that's when I ended up here," she summarized.

 _I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on)_

 _I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin' on)_

 _I'm barely holdin' on to you_

 _I'm hangin' on another day_

 _Just to see what you throw away_

 _And I'm hangin' on to the words you say_

 _You said that I will be OK_

 _The broken lights on the freeway left me here alone_

 _I may have lost my way now_

 _Haven't forgotten my way home_

 _I'm falling apart_

 _I'm barely breathing_

 _With a broken heart that's still beating_

 _In the pain (In the pain) there is healing_

 _In your name I find meaning_

 _So I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')_

 _I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')_

 _I'm barely holdin' on to you_

 _I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')_

 _I'm holdin' on (I'm still holdin')_

 _I'm barely holdin' on to you_

When Katherine had finished summarizing what had happened, how she'd ended up in Storybrooke, and some of her past, he felt sorry for her. It also seemed to him that they were alike in more ways than one, despite being from two different worlds. They'd both done horrible things, lost a child, and lost someone they loved dearly.

"Well, welcome to Storybrooke. And I'm sorry for your loss. I know what it's like to lose a child and someone you love," was all he could say.

"Thanks for that," she replied. "And thanks for healing me."

Several months later, they fell in love and she stayed in town, so they go their happy ending.


	17. Bless The Broken Road (Rumatherine)

Bless The Broken Road (Rumatherine)

Characters: Kat, Rumple, Damon (mentioned), Stefan (mentioned), Kai (mentioned), Lily (mentioned), Belle (mentioned)

Summary: Set in VD S7 after they got Lily out of the prison world and Bonnie trapped Kai there. Also, set in OUAT S7, but everyone is still in Storybrooke, instead of the spell being cast. What will ensue when Katherine escapes the 1903 prison world and winds up back in Storybrooke, since she was in town back in OUAT S1? After all, Rumple and Kat had a little something going on when she'd been a vampire in Storybrooke back in S1 of OUAT, but had left town when she'd decided to go back to Mystic Falls to try and win back Damon and Stefan back in VD S2. Will an old flame unite between Rumple and Kat, when Kat shows up shortly after Rumple lost Belle? Based on the song "Bless The Broken Road."

Pairings:

Rumatherine

 _I set out on a narrow way many years ago_

 _Hoping I would find true love along the broken road_

 _But I got lost a time or two_

 _Wiped by brow and kept pushing through_

 _I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you_

It was a dismal night, as Katherine appeared in a road after escaping the prison world. After Kai had been left behind in the 1903 prison world, she'd found a way out with the ascendant. After dying, she'd ended up there, but Lily had given her shelter and they'd become friends after a while. That is, before she was rescued from the prison world. Katherine was just fine after being in the prison world, since she'd made sure Kai didn't know she was there. She knew not to let him know she was there. Now that she was out, she looked around to see a familiar road. When she'd still been a vampire, before she'd gone back to Mystic Falls to try and win Damon and Stefan back, she'd hung around Storybrooke for a while. Since she was human again, she knew it best to go to the one person that she'd always gotten along with best. Unlike Elijah, he'd never turn her away.

 _Every long lost dream led me to where you are_

 _Others who broke my heart, they were like Northern stars_

 _Pointing me on my way into your loving arms_

 _This much I know is true_

 _That God bless the broken road_

 _That led me straight to you_

 _(yes he did)_

 _I think about the years I spent just passing through_

 _I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you_

 _But you just smile and take my hand_

 _You've been there to understand_

Half an hour later, after walking down the road and into town, she found his familiar shop and entered. She didn't immediately busy, but then again, she knew that he was normally busy in this town. However, when she reached the glass counter, she saw him come from the back of the shop. He seemed a little different now, but she didn't know what the difference was. She couldn't exactly place it.

 _It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true_

 _Every long lost dream led me to where you are_

 _Others who broke my heart, they were like Northern stars_

 _Pointing me on my way into your loving arms_

 _This much I know is true_

 _That God bless the broken road_

 _That led me straight to you_

 _(yes he did)_

 _Yeah_

For a few moments, when Rumple came from the back of his shop, he saw a very familiar face. Not exactly an old friend, but she had always been a friend to him in this town, even when everyone else turned against him. He was surprised to see her back in town, though. And human. Although, he'd already known that she'd been human before, back when she was dying. She'd informed him what was happening to her, even though she knew that he couldn't help her when she was so far away. At the time, no one could even leave town without losing their magic or their memories.

 _Now I'm just rolling home_

 _Into my lover's arms_

 _This much I know is true_

 _That God bless the broken road_

 _That led me straight to you_

 _That God bless the broken road_

 _That led me straight to you_

"Katherine," he stated. Then, "What are you doing here?," needing to know.

"Well, when I died, I ended up in the 1903 prison world and I just escaped it tonight. When I escaped it, I somehow ended up here. I guess it's better than Mystic Falls or New Orleans, whether I wanted to be here or not. I guess I might as well stay here since I'm here anyway. I assume I missed quite a ton of things, since you seem different from the last time we were both in town," she replied. "I need a place to stay. I thought you might let me stay in that mansion house."

"You can do whatever you want. You're right. A lot of things have happened. You can go," he replied.

She took that as an invitation to take proximity in that mansion house of his, so she left the shop to do just that. She knew not to bug him too much. She could tell that he was going through something and wanted to be alone.

Rumple watched her go. Right now, he didn't want to deal with her, but he knew he'd have to sooner than later. He needed time first, though. He'd just lost Belle recently. He wasn't ready if Katherine had in mind what he thought she did. But then again, he'd only dealt with vampire Katherine. He had yet to get to know human Katherine.

Several months or so later, he and Katherine fell in love, so Rumple got a second chance at a happy ending for himself.


	18. A Dark Heart Saved (Rumatherine)

A Dark Heart Saved

Characters: Rumple, Kat, Snow (mentioned), Apprentice (mentioned), author (mentioned), Regina (mentioned)

Summary: Set in OUAT S4 and 5. After recently ending up in Storybrooke and becoming half hero, and after they all return from the alternate reality, Kat finds Rumple. Can she save his heart? When she goes dark, will their love be strong enough to bring her back? What will ensue?

Pairings:

Rumatherine

It was a beautiful day, as a human Katherine Pierce walked into Rumple's shop. They'd all just returned to Storybrooke after the author had written an alternate reality. She couldn't blame him for having the author have villains get their happy endings. It had all been in a book, though. It hadn't truly been real.

When she walked into his shop to make sure he was okay, she saw him using the glass counter to try and stay on his feet. She realized then that something was very wrong.

She approached him.

"What's wrong?"

"It's my heart. The last flicker of red is fading. Soon, I'll lose the ability to love," he explained to her.

"Then we'll get through this together. Anything is possible," she replied, believing that there could be a way to save him. She just had to find out how, but she knew she couldn't do it alone.

Because of his heart, he collapsed.

She didn't want to leave him, so she called Snow to ask for help in saving him. Although she knew almost everyone wouldn't want to help him, Snow would reason with them. She also knew that everyone working together could find a way to save him.

That night, the Apprentice put the darkness inside the hat, but it didn't stay. It left the shop and went looking for someone with the most potential for darkness.

When they left the shop, it surrounded Regina, but Kat made it surround herself. She told them to take care of Rumple and that they'd find a way to save her. Then she disappeared after the darkness overtook her.

After returning to town as The Dark One, she woke Rumple and soon turned him into a hero. Rumple warned her that that was her biggest mistake.

A few weeks later, she was saved and Rumple was The Dark One again, but without a blackened heart. So, they got their happy ending.


	19. The Truth Is Out There

OUAT/VD: The Truth Is Out There

Characters: Snow White, Prince Charming, Regina, Henry, Katherine, Granny, Ruby, Rumple, Archie Hopper, Japetto

Summary: Set in OUAT S1-6, but Emma isn't the one that comes to town and is the savior. The one that comes to town and is supposed to save everyone and give everyone their happiness back is human Kat from VD. After giving everyone their happiness back, who will she end up with? Will she finally get her own happiness, or is she doomed to live the rest of her human life without happiness?

Pairings:

Snow White/Prince Charming

OutlawQueen

Rumbelle

A/N: I don't own the show nor the events that come from the episodes.

 **Introduction**

Once upon a time, there was an enchanted forest filled with fairytale characters we all know and grew up with. Or think we know. One day they found themselves in a place where all their happy endings were stolen. Our world. This is how it happened. This is the story of how their happy endings that were stolen were brought back through a stranger that came to town. This stranger was from another world, known as Katherine. Once upon a time, she was known to be a manipulative, evil bitch vampire of 500 years. As a human though, she'd changed for the better. She didn't know of Storybrooke until she'd suddenly appeared in it, but due to the world that she had lived in for 500 plus years, she believed the true believer when he told her everything. And so this is the story.

 **Ch.1: Pilot**

*Flashback- Snow White and Prince Charming story*

It was a beautiful day, as Prince Charming galloped his horse through everything imaginable to get to Snow White, only to see, when he got to the forest where she lived with the dwarfs, her in a makeshift coffin.

"You're too late," one of them informed him.

"No. No," Charming said and looked down at her in the see-through coffin. "Open it."

"I'm sorry. She's gone," another one informed him.

"At least let me say goodbye," Charming said.

They took the lid of the coffin off and Charming looked down at her for a moment, before kissing her.

After kissing her, she awoke.

"You," she stated. "You found me."

"Did you doubt I would?" Charming inquired. "You'll never have to worry. I will always find you."

"Do you promise?" she asked him.

Later, they got married. After their vows and "I do's" though, The Evil Queen interrupted by walking in.

"Sorry I'm late," The Evil Queen said, before walking down the aisle towards where the Charmings stood. When a couple guards ran towards her, she magically through them aside.

"The Queen. Run," one of the dwarfs told Snow White and Prince Charming, but Snow White unsheathed Charming's sword and pointed it towards the Evil Queen.

"She's not a Queen anymore. She's nothing more than an evil witch," Snow White said.

"No, no, no. Don't stoop to her level. There's no need to," Charming told her, taking the sword from her. Then he spoke to the Evil Queen. "You're wasting your time here. You've already lost. I'm not going to let you ruin this wedding."

"Oh, I haven't come here to ruin anything," she informed him. "On the contrary dear, I've come here to give you a gift."

"We want nothing from you," Snow White told her.

"But you shall have it," the Evil Queen replied. "My gift to you is this happy, happy day. But tomorrow, my real work begins. You've made your vows. Now I make mine. Soon, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you forever. And out of your suffering, will rise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness, if it's the last thing I do."

The Evil Queen began to walk away, but stopped and turned around, when Charming said, "Hey!" Then Charming through a sword towards her, but she disappeared in a cloud of gray mist.

Eight months seven or eight months later, they went to Rumpelstiltskin whom they had imprisoned and he informed them that everything they all love will be ripped from them and that their prison will be time, but a stranger will come to town and then "the final battle will begin."

Afterward, a selective people were gathered around the table in the palace, trying to figure out a way to stop it, but soon, they found out that there was no way to stop it, because the Dark curse happened anyway. And so, Storybrooke, Main was made.

*Present*

In the present day, for so many years, Snow White was now Mary Margaret and a kindergarten teacher. Prince Charming was now John Doe and in a coma state. Because of everyone except Rumple and The Evil Queen being imprisoned by time, not knowing who they really were, no one except Rumple and The Evil Queen, now known as Regina Mills, knew who he really was. Rumple was now known as Gold and had a Pawn Shop and Regina was now the Mayor of the town. Mary Margaret always visited John Doe though.

It was a dismal night, as a human Katherine suddenly appeared in a town she didn't recognize, in the middle of the road. She still had the ascendant in hand from the 1994 prison world she'd just escaped. She had no idea where she was, but she knew she needed to find out where. That's when she saw a sign that said _Welcome to Storybrooke_ , on the side of the road. Even though she was injured from her time in the prison world, she began to limp down the road. Her plan was to get herself taken care of at the nearest hospital and then find out where the hell she exactly was and what kind of town this was. She'd never heard of Storybrooke before in her entire life. That was saying something, considering how old she'd been as a vampire.

After she'd tended to herself at the only hospital she saw was in town and had found a change of clothes at a clothing store that was obviously closed at this hour, she began walking through town. That's when she saw that there was a small motel. So, she entered the motel and approached the counter.

"I'd like a room," she informed the elderly lady, once she and the other girl had stopped their argument.

When Granny asked her what kind of room, she told her that she'd like a square.

"How long will you be staying?" Granny asked her.

"A week," she said, not really knowing how long she'd be staying here, but a week sounded reasonable enough.

After she questioned her of her name, Granny handed her a key, in which Katherine took.

"Welcome to Storybrooke."

A guy came up to the counter, obviously having overheard.

"That's a lovely name," he commented, before Granny handed him some cash she knew he was there for.

"It's all here," Granny assured him.

"I'm sure it is," he replied. Then he looked at Katherine. "Enjoy your stay, Katherine."

She watched him leave, before turning to Granny.

"Who was that?"

"Mr. Gold," Ruby informed her, as she looked out the window.

"He owns this place," Granny informed her.

"This place?" she inquired, referring to the motel.

"The town," Granny clarified for her.

Katherine didn't have anything to say to that.

"Thanks for letting me stay here," she said, before going up to her room that she'd be staying in.

Once she'd layed down, she fell asleep.

 **Ch.2: The Thing You Love Most**

After she got ready and dressed for the day, she went downstairs and to the diner for something to eat. She went and sat on a bar stool, where she ordered a wine glass of Bourbon and a plate of a couple pancakes. After everything she'd been through, a shot glass of Bourbon wasn't going to do it. She needed a wine glass of it instead. After she'd finished eating, but was still sipping her Bourbon, she got a surprise visit of a boy with a book.

She looked at him, when he sat next to her.

"Hi, I'm Henry," he introduced himself.

"I'm Katherine. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school or something? What's up with the book?"

To her, it looked suspicious that a boy would be carrying a book that size around with him.

"It's not just any book. It's magical. It has every fairytale in it. Everyone here is under a Dark curse. Now they don't remember who they are," he informed her.

"Well, I'm no stranger to magic so it's not too farfetched from the world I'm from," she admitted. She kind of believed him, but at the same time, it was a little hard to believe. She'd never seen a curse before, but she'd heard of people that have been cursed by witches before.

After going through the book with the boy, she completely believed him; Especially, when she saw that now that she was in town, her story was in the book too. That meant everything he believed was true.

She closed the book and he put it away in his backpack.

"It's nice meeting you, but what is my story doing in your book, though? I'm not a fairytale character," she asserted.

"You're supposed to bring back the happy endings. It's your destiny," he informed her.

She watched him leave for school and then she continued drinking her wine glass of Bourbon. Not long afterward, someone resembling a fairytale character she'd just seen in Henry's book came to sit next to her.

"We haven't met yet. I'm Regina. I'm the mayor of this town. I make it my business to know who everyone is in this town. So, who are you?"

Katherine wasn't fazed by her demeanor. She'd dealt with witches in the past and she'd once had a witch as a friend. Besides, she was descended from Travelers. She could take on a witch, evil or not. She drank some more of the Bourbon.

"Katherine Pierce. Before you ask why I'm here, which is what I'd ask if I were you, I don't know why I'm here exactly. I escaped what's called a prison world and suddenly found myself in the middle of the road, but if we're going to coexist in the same town, I suggest not to threaten me. I may be from a different world, but my world isn't too different from yours. You don't know what I've done in the past or what I'm capable of," she introduced and warned her, before Regina could say anything else.

"What has my son told you?" she inquired. "I know what he thinks me of as."

"What? A monster? Evil? Believe me, I've been in your shoes and it's not a good feeling when everyone thinks you're evil or a monster. The only thing that can probably keep people from thinking you're who they think you are is by changing into a good person; doing good things. Sometimes though, that doesn't work. It didn't work in my world for some people, but it sort of worked for one person. He wanted to forgive me for what I'd done, but someone can't forgive you for something overnight. It has to be earned. I learned that from Elijah. Don't give Henry a reason to think you're the Evil Queen and he'll see you as someone good eventually," she answered her.

Regina didn't have anything to say for once, so she just left to do her job as the mayor of the town.

The next day, Henry had her walk him to school.

"So, what's the deal with you and your mom?" she questioned him.

"It's not about us. It's about her curse. We have to break it. Luckily, I have a plan. Step one, identification. I call it operation Cobra."

"Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairytales," she replied.

"Exactly. It's a code name. Throw the Queen off our trail."

"So everyone here is a fairytale character. They just don't know it," Katherine said.

"That's the curse. Time's been frozen. Until you got here."

"What about their past?" she inquired.

"They don't know. Ask anyone about anything. You'll know," he answered her.

"So for decades people have been walking around not aging, screwed up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious," she said, getting what he was telling her.

"I knew you'd get it. That's why we need you. You're the only one that can stop her curse. Right now, we have the advantage. My mom doesn't know that. I took out the ending. The parts with you in it. If she finds out who you are, it'll be bad. I gotta go, but I'll find you later and we can get started." After walking a distance away, he yelled out, "I knew you'd believe me!"

Someone Katherine didn't know, saw and approached her. She assumed when she spoke though, that she was probably his teacher.

"It's good to see his smile back," she stated to her.

"I didn't do anything," Katherine assured her.

"So, does the mayor know you're here?" she inquired.

"She knows. What's her deal? She's not exactly a people person. How'd she get elected?" Katherine said, needing to know more.

"She's been here as long as I can remember. No one's been brave enough to run against her. She inspires quite a bit of, well, fear. Ever since I gave him that book, Henry thinks she's the Evil Queen," she answered her.

"Who does he think you are?" she asked her.

"Snow White," she answered her. "Who does he think you are?"

"Just who I am. Katherine," she replied. "Who are you?"

"Mary Margaret," she replied.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Katherine said, and then watched her leave, before walking away herself.

After Regina did something to get Katherine out of having a place to stay at the motel, Katherine still didn't leave town. She was quite resilient when she wanted or needed to be, so she found out where Mary Margaret was staying whom let her stay with her.

Once inside, she made a mug of hot chocolate for them both and gave Katherine one before sitting down at the table with her. So, together, they had some hot chocolate and a plate of cookies.

"You look like you need to talk," she told Katherine.

"Well, you seem to trust me even though I'm a stranger. A part of me wants to leave, but another part of me knows that I need to stay. For Henry. I want to make sure he's okay, even if he's not my child."

"I think the reason why you want to leave is the reason why you have to stay. If you leave, who will look out for Henry?" she replied to Katherine.

Later that night, Gold came to see Regina whom was in her yard with her tree of red apples.

"Lovely to see you in such high spirits," he greeted.

"Well, it's been a good day. Just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance."

"Katherine Pierce? Really?"

"Yes. I imagine she's half way to wherever she came from now," Regina said.

"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that," Rumple said, picking one of her apples off the tree. "I just saw her strolling down main street with your boy. Thick as thieves they looked."

"What?" she inquired.

"Perhaps, you should've come to me. Miss Pierce is a problem you can't fix. I'm willingly happy to help. For a price, of course," he offered.

"I'm not in a business of making deals with you anymore," she reminded him.

"To which deal are you referring?" he asked her.

"You know what deal."

"The boy I procured for you. Henry. Did I ever tell you what a lovely name that was? However, did you pick it?" he replied to her.

"Did you want her to come to town?" Regina questioned him. "You wanted all this to happen, didn't you? You finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it? Where did you get him?" When he gave her a smile, she asked, "Do you know something?"

"I don't know what you're implying," he replied.

"I think you do," she said and he gave her another smile. "Who is this woman? This Katherine Pierce?" she asked him, now trying to get information from him.

"I think you know who she is," Rumple replied, not giving anything away. "I really must be going." He turned around to leave, but she stood in his way.

"Tell me what you know about her," she told him.

"I'm not going to answer you, dearie, so I suggest you excuse me. Please."

He walked around her and then walked away.

She watched him go.

 **Ch.3: Snow Falls**

After Henry insisted on it, Mary Margaret read the Snow White and Prince Charming story to John Doe and he grabbed her hand. She hadn't expected something like that. She had expected that nothing would happen and that Henry would see that fairytales weren't real; just fairytales. She told the doctor, but Wale lied to her, saying there was no change. When Mary Margaret left though, he called Regina to inform her that there had definitely been somewhat of a change.

The next day, Mary Margaret entered the diner, where Katherine and Henry were waiting for her. Henry wanted a report about how it went. Mary Margaret informed them and Henry said that she had to go back and read to him again, so they went back, only to find out that he was now missing. Regina and the sheriff were there.

"What did you do?" Henry asked his mother.

"You think I had something to do with this?" she inquired of her son.

"Well, it is strange that the mayor would be here," Katherine interjected.

"I'm here, because I'm his emergency contact," Regina told her.

"You know him?" Mary Margaret asked her.

"I found him. On the side of the road with no ID. I brought him here."

"The mayor saved his life," Wale interjected.

"Then let's stop talking and get to finding him," Katherine said, and turned around to leave.

"Is that what we're doing?" Regina inquired, which made Katherine turn to look at her. "Just stay out of this. And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I'll have to keep my son away from you." Regina took Henry's hand and began to lead him away. She stopped and turned to look at the sheriff. "Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Doctor Wale. Time is precious." Regina walked off with Henry.

After looking at the tape, they realized that he left on his own four hours ago, so they went in search of him in the woods. When they were still looking for him, Henry showed up to help and told Mary Margaret that he's looking for her, but he was really meaning that he was looking for Snow White.

A moment later, the sheriff found his wrist band on a bush and they all saw what he found when he called out to the others that he found something.

A few minutes later, they found him at the river and Mary Margaret saved him and he woke up, but he didn't know who he was.

At the hospital, Regina dropped a bombshell that she found out that his name is David Nolan. Then Regina took Henry home and Mary Margaret and Katherine went home too.

 **Ch.4: The Price Of Gold**

It was a beautiful day, as Katherine and Henry walked through town together.

"Are you sure we can be out in the open?" Henry asked her, knowing how much Regina didn't like Katherine.

"I'm not sneaking around. Your mom has a probably with me walking you to a school bus? I'll be more than happy to have that chat."

"You're brave," Henry stated. "You'll need that for Operation Cobra. Speaking of, have you thought of any code names?"

"Isn't Cobra our code name?" she questioned him.

"That's the mission," he clarified. "I need something to call you."

"Just call me Katherine," she replied.

They stopped walking, once they were at the school bus.

"Okay, well, I'll see you later, Katherine."

She watched, as he boarded the school bus.

After the bus left, the sheriff came up in his car. He then got out.

"What's up with the siren?" she asked him.

"Well, it's so hard to get your attention," he answered her.

"Well, you've got my attention now. What do you want?"

"To thank you for helping to find David."

"And what do I get for that? Key to the city?" she questioned, half-joking.

"How about a job? I could use a deputy," he offered her.

"Let me think about it," she replied.

He gave her his card. "Think about it. Stay a while."

She watched, as he left.

When she was at the diner and accidentally spilled some hot cocoa on her clothes and Ruby told her where the laundry room was, she did her laundry there and put on some new clothes that were hanging from the line. Then she got to talking to a girl that was pregnant.

"The doctor said the baby could come any day now. The thing is, when it comes, no one thinks I can do it. No one thinks I can do anything. Maybe they're right."

Katherine leaned against the washer.

"Don't listen to them."

The girl looked at her.

"What?"

"Don't listen to whatever they tell you or think you can or can't do," Katherine told her. "How old are you?"

"19."

"I was 17," she informed her.

"When you had a kid?"

"Yeah. I know what it's like when everyone likes to tell you what you can and can't do, but whatever you plan on doing, whether you raise your child or not, the choice is yours. You have to learn to stand up for yourself. Show people what you are capable of if you want to change their minds. You want to change things? You gotta go out there and change them yourself, because in my world, there are no fairy god-mothers. People say what they say to hurt you no matter what. Be strong and show them who you really are and people will start to see you differently," she replied, giving her some personal advice that she had to learn on her own.

Later that day, Gold came for a visit. Since Mary Margaret answered the door, he asked her, "Is Miss Pierce here?"

Katherine approached the door.

"Hi, my name is Mr. Gold," he introduced himself and they shook hands, though she'd seen him before. "We met briefly when you first arrived."

"I remember."

"Good. I have a proposition for you, Miss Pierce. I need your help. I'm looking for someone."

"Really?"

Mary Margaret left the room saying she was going to go jump in the bath.

Gold handed her pictures, in which Katherine took and looked at.

"Her name is Ashley Boyd. She's taken something quite valuable of mine."

Gold walked inside and Katherine closed the door behind him.

"So, why don't you go to the police?"

"Because she's a confused young woman. She's pregnant, alone, and scared. I don't want to ruin this young girl's life. I just want my property returned."

"What is it?" she questioned him.

"Well, one of the advantages of you not being the police is discretion. Let's just say it's a precious object," he replied.

"When did you see her last?"

"Last night. That's how I got this," he replied, and showed her a cut he'd received on the side of his head. "She kept rambling on and on about changing her life. I have no idea what got into her. Miss Pierce, please help me find her. My only other choice is the police," he replied.

"I will help her," she said, not saying anything about helping him.

After he left, Henry arrived, not heeding Regina's rules of no TV and staying inside. Instead, when Henry found out that she was going out to go help the maid, he insisted on coming with her, so she had no choice but to let him come with her.

After talking to Ruby about who the maid is, Henry got the notion of who she was when Ruby said that she has two step-sisters and a step-mother.

"Look, I don't know what you've heard, but it's wrong. Everyone thinks she's not ready to have this kid, but she's trying. Taking night classes; trying to better herself. Trying to get her life together. Can you understand that?" Ruby said.

"More than you know," Katherine answered.

"Maybe you should stay out of it then. She's been through enough already," Ruby suggested.

"I've been through it too, Ruby, and I can help her," Katherine replied.

Ruby told them where Ashley's ex-boyfriend lived and they headed over there to talk to him.

After having a confrontation with the ex-boyfriend's father, she found out why Gold exactly wanted it to be her to find the maid; so, she could give him the baby that the maid sold to him. Then, after talking to Ruby again, she found out where Ashley was going.

At the town line, Katherine and Henry found her and she told him that the baby was coming. After getting her in the car, she tried to get them to take her to Boston, but she eventually convinced her that she wouldn't let anything happen to the child and she gave her a pep talk saying, "You sure you're ready?"

"Yes."

"You sure? Because I wasn't."

"You weren't?"

"No. You have to grow up and you can't ever leave. Understand?"

"Yes. I want my baby."

While Ashley was in labor, Henry and Katherine were in the waiting room at the hospital, Katherine pacing around, Henry sitting in one of the chairs.

"You know, you can do it. You're the only one that can," he said.

"Break the curse? Yes. You keep telling me that."

"No. Leave," he informed her. "Leave Storybrooke. If anyone else tried to leave, bad things would happen."

"Anyone," she stated. "Except for me."

"You're the Savior. You can do anything you want. You can go."

They were interrupted, when the nurse came in and told them that she was a "healthy six-pound girl and the mother's doing fine."

Suddenly, Rumple appeared in the waiting room.

"What lovely news."

Katherine looked at him.

"Excellent work, Miss Pierce. Thank you for bringing me my merchandise."

She approached him after he got a cup of coffee.

"A baby? That's your merchandise? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, because at the time, you didn't need to know," he answered her.

"Really? Or you thought I wouldn't take the job?" she countered.

"On the contrary, I thought it would be more effective if you found out yourself. After seeing Ashley's hard life, I thought it would make sense. To you."

"You're not getting that kid," Katherine boldly told him.

"Actually, we had an agreement, and my agreements are always honored. If not, I'm going to have to involve the police, and that baby is going to end up in the system. And that would be a pity."

"That's not going to happen," she replied.

"I like your confidence," he complimented her. "Charming. But all I have to do is press charges. She did, after all, break into my shop."

"You know, no one would put a girl in jail for breaking and entering with the only reason of doing so was to keep her child," she replied. "I'm willing to bet that that contract doesn't stand up. Not to mention what might come out about you in the process. Somehow, I suspect there's more to you than a simple pawn broker. You really want to start that fight?"

"I like you, Miss Pierce. You're not afraid of me and I'd rather have you on my side."

"So she can keep the baby," she said.

"Not just yet," he answered. "There's still a matter in mind. Agreement with Miss Boyd."

"Tear it up," she suggested.

"That not what I do. You see, contracts; deals, they're all part of civility existence. If you want Ashley to have that baby, are you willing to make a deal with me?"

"What do you want?" she asked him.

"Oh, I don't know just yet," he admitted. "You'll owe me a favor."

"Deal," she said, and they shook on it, before she walked away from him.

She and Henry entered the hospital room where Ashley was.

"Hey," Katherine greeted. "What's her name?" she questioned, looking down at the baby girl.

"Alexandra," she answered her.

"That's pretty."

"Thank you for getting me here."

"Mr. Gold is outside. I took care of it. She's yours," she informed her.

"She is?" she said with relief. "What did you do?"

"I made a deal with him."

"Thank you," she replied.

After dropping Henry off at home, she made up her mind to stay and called Sheriff Graham.

"Hello?" he greeted.

"Graham? It's Katherine. I was thinking maybe some roots wouldn't be so bad. That deputy job still open?"

"Absolutely," he answered her.

"Then I'm in," she informed him. "Regina gonna be okay with this?"

"I don't care. It's my department. Hope to see you Monday morning."

"See ya," she answered him. Then she hung up.

 **Ch.5: That Still Small Voice**

After she put on the deputy's badge there was some shaking and phones began to ring. Then they found out that some mines collapsed. After Regina told everyone that she was going to turn the collapsed tunnels into city property by paving them, Henry told Archie and Katherine that they couldn't let her do that, saying that something could be down there that she was trying to hide.

"They're just some mines," she assured him.

"That just so happen to collapse after you get here? It's working. You're weakening the curse," he told her. "Did you do anything different today?"

Regina interrupted them.

"I told you to wait in the car," she told Henry whom then left. "Deputy, do your job." Katherine walked away, which gave Regina an opportunity to threaten Doctor Hopper and tell him to get Henry to stop thinking that fairytales are real. Then Regina walked away.

Later, Hopper tried to do as he was told, not wanting to be fired, so Henry went down into the old mines to find any proof that something was down there. Since he'd gone to Katherine before going down into the mines, they knew where he was headed and went after him.

After Hopper went in after Henry, there was a cave in, so Katherine got some construction workers to help and Ruby had Pongo's leash whom was Hopper's Dalmatian dog. Because she called some people to help, Regina found out, so she was there too.

Regina started arguing with Katherine.

"Why do you think he went down there in the first place? Because you made him feel like he had something to prove," she reminded Regina.

"Why does he think he has something to prove? Who gave him that idea?" Regina replied.

"Don't blame it on me," she warned her.

"Oh, please, lecture me until his oxygen runs out," Regina replied, before walking away from her.

After Regina gave the order to blow it, they did so.

Katherine went over to see if it opened it up, and then came back and told Regina that it didn't open.

"What did it do?" Regina questioned.

They found out that it didn't do anything and then Katherine saw that Pongo was whining from the fire truck front seat, so she let him out. Pongo went straight for a patch of dirt, which led them to a mine shaft. They took the vent off and made a harness.

"Someone needs to go down there," Japetto said, though because of the curse, he didn't know he was Japetto.

"I'll go," Regina said without hesitation.

"No way," Katherine replied.

"He's my son," she told her.

"I don't think he'd be very happy to see you right now after what you tried to do," she pointed out. "Forgiveness isn't given overnight, you know. I know that from some personal experience," she added.

"Just bring him to me," Regina stated.

It didn't take long for Katherine to get down to them.

"You guys okay?" she questioned.

Hopper got to his feet.

"Yeah, we're okay," he assured her.

Soon, they were out of there.

Afterward, Hopper finally stood up to Regina and then left.

Later, Henry and Katherine were sitting down on a rock together.

"You really scared me," she admitted; something she normally wouldn't admit to anyone but herself.

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Well, come on. Your mom wants to take you home," she said. She was about to get to her feet.

"Hey, listen," he suddenly said, before she did so.

They listened and once in so many years, they actually heard crickets chirping.

"Crickets," Hopper stated.

"They're back," Henry stated. He looked at Katherine. "Things are changing."

While everyone was having a party by the mines, Regina was standing by the shaft, looking down into it.

 **Ch.6: The Shepherd**

*Flashback*

After the king's son was killed, the king decided to have his other son take James' place as the knight that would kill the dragon. And so his living brother became an adopted prince of the king. Then he killed the dragon.

*Present*

After finding out that David wanted her to be with him, Mary Margaret didn't know what to do. So, she told him that she had to think on it.

Katherine walked in to see that Mary Margaret was cleaning quite a lot and she told Katherine about the situation.

"What do I do?" she asked Katherine.

"You need to stop cleaning and have a drink."

Katherine poured them short wine glasses of Bourbon.

"Here's the thing. I don't know a lot about good relationships. The only relationship I ever really had was with someone named Elijah. I made a mistake though and that cost me his trust and our relationship. I let him choose where we stood and he left town and followed his family to New Orleans. But if you think what you're doing is wrong, it usually is. If you think what you're doing is right, it's usually right. So, do what you want, but I personally say to let him figure out his life before you make a choice," Katherine said, speaking from some personal experience she'd had with Elijah.

When Mary Margaret decided to finally choose to meet him as he wanted her to, he met up with her, but said that he needed to figure things out before he could actually be with her, though he did still have intense feelings for her.

That night, when Katherine was patrolling around town, she caught Graham sneaking out of Regina's house, only to find out that he and Regina have been sleeping around together. The reason that he was sneaking out of the window was because Regina didn't want Henry to know about it, as he informed her.

 **Ch.7: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter**

Katherine entered the diner, but when she saw that Graham was there, she left.

He followed her out.

"I need you to understand. You don't know what it's like with her."

"A bad relationship? I think I can relate, so yeah; I get it."

"I don't feel anything," he informed her.

He kissed her, which gave him images of the woods and a wolf with one red eye. Then he pulled away.

"Did you see that?"

"How much have you had to drink?" she inquired, figuring it wasn't curse related at all.

"I need to feel something," he said.

"Yeah, you're drunk and full of regret. I get that. Go home. Whatever you're looking to feel, you're not getting it with me," she replied.

She walked away without a single look back.

After trying to feel something from her, he went to Regina, but he didn't feel anything with her, either. Then he had a dream of a wolf and that he was in the woods.

That day, he saw a wolf and followed it into the woods. When he rested a hand on top of its head, he got some more flashes; he saw what looked to be Mary Margaret and saw a knife in his hand and he saw a wolf and a symbol. Then, in the present, he didn't see the wolf. It was like the wolf had vanished.

Katherine was at the police station, throwing darts, when Regina walked in.

She looked at Regina.

"What do you want? Graham isn't here. I assumed he took a sick day with you."

"So you know about us," she replied. "Good. Because I'm well aware of your relationship with him."

"I don't have a relationship with him," she answered the mayor.

"You forget that I have eyes everywhere," she said, hinting that she heard about the kiss last night.

"He kissed me. It didn't mean anything," she assured her.

"Of course not. Because you're incapable of feeling anything for anyone," Regina assumed. "There's a reason you're alone. Isn't there?"

"The way I live my life is none of your business," Katherine told her.

"Until it fringes on my life," Regina replied. "Stay away from Graham. You may think you're not doing anything, but you're putting thoughts in his head. Thoughts that aren't in his best interest. You are leading him onto a path of self-destruction. Stay away."

Katherine watched her leave.

Meanwhile, Graham went to see Henry to see if he was in the book or not.

"When did your flashes begin?" Henry asked, as they sat on his bed, looking in the book.

"Right after I kissed Katherine."

"What did you see?"

"A wolf. I saw that I had a knife in my hand. And I was with Mary Margaret."

"Were you about to hurt her?"

"Yes. How did you know that?" he answered.

"Because Mary Margaret is Snow White. Which makes you the Huntsman."

"So you really think I could be another person?" he inquired.

"It makes perfect sense. You were raised by wolves. That's why you keep seeing one. He's your friend. Your guide. He's trying to help you."

"I'm remembering this because I kissed Katherine? How is that possible?"

"Well, it makes sense. She's the Savior. She's destined to bring back the happy endings," he informed him.

"What happened after I spared Snow White's life?" he asked.

"The Queen took your heart. She ripped it out. It's kind of her thing. She didn't want you to ever feel again."

Graham turned the page.

"What's that? I saw that symbol too. The wolf was howling at it."

"That's her vault. It's where she put your heart."

"The wolf wants me to find it," Graham suddenly realized. "Thank you, Henry."

Graham left the house, only to find Katherine waiting there.

"I hear you're having a rough day."

"Who else knows?" he questioned her.

"Pretty much everyone. What's wrong? You just went to a ten-year-old for help."

"He's the only one that's making any sense," he informed her.

"What's going on? What's really going on?"

"It's my heart. I need to find it."

"Okay. How are you going to do that?" she questioned, thinking it was rhetorical and not his actual heart.

"I just need to follow the wolf."

"What?" she questioned. She didn't think there were any wolves in this town. She hadn't seen one since her arrival. "What wolf?"

"Of my dreams. It's going to help me find my heart."

"I thought we were talking metaphorically here," she replied. "You really think you don't have a heart?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense. The reason why I don't feel anything," he reasoned with her.

Suddenly, he saw her looking at something over his shoulder.

"What?"

He turned around to see a wolf standing a distance away.

The wolf disappeared behind a bush and he gave her a look, before chasing after the wolf to catch up with the wolf.

Katherine followed him.

When they did, the wolf stopped at Regina's vault and they went inside the vault to check it out.

Later that night though, she realized that Regina found out, because Graham died in the police station suddenly.

 **Ch.8: Desperate Souls**

After Rumple gave Katherine some walkie talkies from Graham's stuff, she found Henry alone at his castle as usual.

"I thought we could use these for Operation Cobra," she said, giving him one after sitting next to him.

"I think we should stop for a while. You don't mess around with the curse. Look what happened to Graham. He was good and she killed him. You're good."

"You're worried about me?" she questioned, half surprised, since nobody had cared about her before apart from Elijah and 145 year ago, Damon. "I'm not exactly good. I'm just trying to make up for the evil I did when I was a vampire."

"Good has to play fair. Evil doesn't. She's evil," he said. "It's probably best. Don't want to upset her anymore."

He got up and left.

When she was at the station and about to put the sheriff's badge on, Regina walked in.

"Oh, that's not for you."

"It's been two weeks. It's automatic," she answered her, looking at the mayor.

"Unless the mayor appoints someone else in the appointed time period, which I'm doing today," she informed her.

"Who's it going to be?"

"After some reflection, Sydney Glass."

"Sydney Glass from the newspaper?"

"Well, he's covered the sheriff's office as long as anyone can remember."

"And he'll do whatever you tell him to do," Katherine assumed. "You just can't stand that things are getting better around here, can you?"

"Better? Are you referring to Graham's death as better? He was a good man and you haven't earned the right to wear his badge," Regina said.

"Graham picked me to be deputy," Katherine reminded her.

"He was wrong."

"No. He knew what he was doing. He freed this office of your leash. You're not getting it back."

"Actually, I just did," Regina replied. "Miss Pierce, you're fired." She grabbed the badge and walked out.

Mary Margaret entered the house to see Katherine at the table, having a shot glass of Bourbon. When she questioned of what happened, Katherine informed her that Regina fired her in order to have someone else be sheriff.

"I guess I just want to beat her," Katherine stated. Then there was a knock at the door.

Katherine opened it, only to reveal that it was Gold.

"There's something I'd like to discuss with you," he said.

Katherine looked over to Mary Margaret.

"I'll let you two talk," she said, and left the room.

Katherine turned back to him. "Come on in."

He walked inside and she closed the door.

"I heard about what happened. Such an injustice," he informed her.

"Well, what's done is done," she replied.

"Spoken like a true fighter," he commented.

"I don't know what chance I have. She's mayor and I'm me. It's not like I have any of the abilities I used to have anymore."

"Maybe not, but two people with a common enemy can accomplish more than two people with a common interest. You know, it's strange how few people study the town charter."

He sat down at the table, as did she.

"The town charter?"

"It's quite comprehensive under her authority, but maybe she's not as powerful as she says or thinks she is." He gave her a smile.

After learning all about the charter, she decided to run election with Regina.

Just as Regina was about to put the sheriff badge on Sydney, Katherine walked in.

"Not yet," she stated.

"Miss Pierce, this is quite unceremonial."

"Nothing is unceremonial except this ceremony. You can elect a candidate. Making anyone sheriff requires an election. I'm calling myself as a candidate."

"Very well. So is Sydney. I guess we'll learn a little something about the role of the people," Regina replied.

"I guess we will," Katherine agreed.

Later, she and Regina were having a talk about the debate that was going to happen, as they left her office and walked down the stairs.

"You should be careful of who you're getting into bed with," Regina warned her, obviously knowing more about him than Katherine even knew.

"I'm not getting into bed with anyone. I'm just fighting fire with fire," she answered.

When they were almost to the end of the stairs, there was an explosion and fire started rapidly. Katherine got a square thing made of wood off of them both and got to her feet.

"Come on. Let's get out of here." She was about to go, when Regina informed her that she couldn't move.

Katherine stood there, debating. The parts of her that would always have the darkness she'd had as a vampire would have, and still would just leave and not look back since they were enemies, but the good part knew she shouldn't. Besides, she was Henry's mother. She lost her own mother to Klaus. She wouldn't do anything to Henry's mother when it would hurt him.

"Help me. Please," Regina said, looking at her.

Katherine made up her mind and helped her up and out.

When they got out of there, there were fire trucks and people taking pictures, as well as some of the town people that they knew.

Henry went up to her and she knelt at his level after he'd told Snow and Granny and Hopper that she really had saved Regina.

"See? This is what good people do. You do good and people see it. No one gets hurt," she assured him.

"You know what? You're right," he said.

"See, Henry? We don't have to fight dirty."

When she looked at the pile of ash and other things that were outside, she noticed something that she'd seen Gold working on before. That's when she realized that Gold had done it, but when she confronted him, he didn't exactly admit to doing it. She knew he'd started the fire anyway, though.

Soon, the election came. When everyone was getting ready behind the curtain, she and Mary Margaret were talking and she confessed, "I want to show him that good can win."

"That's why you want to beat Regina? I thought you wanted it for yourself," she replied.

"I do. If I'm not the Savior though and I can't win, then who am I? I can't exactly be the person I used to be. I was once worse than Regina; a lot worse. I did things; some I regret doing. Because of that, I lost those I cared about and those I loved one way or another. I can't go back to who I was; Especially, in this town."

After the election began and she announced that the fire was a set up and that Gold did it without her knowledge that he was going to do it, she left and went to the diner for a drink.

"Another one?" Ruby inquired, taking the empty glass.

"Hell yeah."

She gave her another one.

Henry came in and set a walkie talkie on the bar by her.

"What's this?"

"You stood up to Mr. Gold. You're amazing," he replied.

"Well, he did something illegal."

"That's what heroes do. Expose stuff like that," Henry pointed out.

Regina and Sydney entered the diner.

"I thought I might find you here," Regina stated. "With a drink and my son."

"Here to card me?" she questioned Sydney. "I thought you'd be joining your after party."

"Well, you'll have to tell me what that's like," he answered.

Regina gave her the badge. "Congratulations, Sheriff Pierce."

"Wait, what?" Henry questioned.

"It was a very close vote, but people seem to like a sheriff brave enough to stand up to Mr. Gold," Regina elaborated.

"Are you joking?" she questioned. It was hard to believe that, for once in a very long time, she'd won something; won against someone. After all, everyone where she was from all saw her as a villain.

"She's not," Sydney assured her.

"You didn't pick the best friend in Mr. Gold, but he does make a superitive enemy. Enjoy that," Regina informed her.

She was at the station, stacking a pile of stuff on a desk, when she realized that Gold was there. He informed her that he knew that she'd defy him.

"No way did you know that," she countered him. Unless he had magic that allowed him to see into the future, which she doubted he had, he couldn't have known that she'd defy him.

"I know how to recognize a desperate soul," he replied. "We made a deal some time ago that you'd owe me a favor. Now that you're sheriff, I'm sure you can figure out how to repay me. Congratulations."

She watched, as he left.

 **Ch.9: True North**

It was a beautiful day, as Katherine entered a grocery store after getting a call about a couple kids shoplifting. When she did, she saw that Henry and Regina were there, too.

"What happened?" she questioned Henry, but Regina spoke to keep Henry from saying anything.

"None of your business. It's all been taken care of."

Katherine watched, as they both left, before going over to where the two kids were and where the guy was that had called it in.

After he explained that they'd been shoplifting and that the number they gave him was disconnected, she asked them if they gave him a wrong number and they told her that their parents just hadn't been able to pay the phone bill. She knew something was up, but didn't say anything. She just gave them a ride home to where they said they lived at.

After they thought she had left, they went over to an abandoned house where they actually lived, but they heard a noise and went over to find her there.

"Why'd you lie to me?" she inquired.

After they told her that their mother died and they didn't know their father and had been living on their own ever since, she took them to where she was staying at with Mary Margaret and got them something to eat. Being a mother to a daughter herself, she didn't want anything to happen to them, so she went in search of finding their father.

While she was at the station, digging into who they might be and who their father might be, Henry showed up and sat on the corner of her desk with the book.

She looked at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I think I might know who they are," he answered her. He set the book down on the desk to a certain page of a story. "Brother and sister; no parents; homeless. They're Hansel and Gretel."

She glanced at the story and then asked him, "Does it say anything about who their father is?"

"No. Just that he abandoned them," he informed her.

"I think I have an idea how to find their father," she said, getting an idea.

After coming home, she asked them if they had anything of their father's that she could borrow to help find their father. And they did. An old compass.

After leaving with the compass, she went to the station where she wouldn't be bothered and did a spell she knew from all her experience with witches. A locator spell. When she had finished, she knew exactly where their father was and who he was. So she went to go visit him.

After arriving at the auto shop where she found him, and after showing him the compass that he said he'd lost, she tried to convince him to take them in, since he was their father, but he didn't wish to. But then, later that night, he made up his mind to take them in.

That night, when Katherine and Henry were talking, they saw someone with a motorcycle come to town. She tried to get him to tell her his name, but he didn't tell her his name. Then he left on his motorcycle to Granny's Diner to get a room to stay in. He was apparently planning on staying in town.

 **Ch.10: 7: 15 A.M.**

It was a beautiful day, as the stranger began fixing his motorcycle. As he was doing so, he didn't realize that he was in front of someone's place in particular, and the boy he'd seen the other night came up to him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked him.

"Fixing my bike."

"No. I mean here in Storybrooke."

"Just visiting," he answered the boy.

"What's that?" the boy asked, seeing the box on the end of the box.

"A box."

"What's inside it?"

"Just something I need to do what I came here for."

"I thought you were just visiting," the boy said.

"Doesn't mean I don't have something to do."

Regina came out of the house and saw them talking.

The stranger got on his motorcycle and started the engine.

"Henry!" she called.

"You better get to school," the stranger told him. "Looks like a storm's coming." Then the stranger took off on his motorcycle.

Henry watched him go.

Regina came up to Henry.

"Henry, who was that?"

He shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of "I don't know."

Meanwhile, Katherine was at home having breakfast, when Mary Margaret rushed in, finishing in getting ready to go to the school for her job. She'd slept ten minutes over time and had to get to the school by seven fifteen to help the kids with making their volcano before school started, because there was a science fair, as she told Katherine.

Katherine watched her go.

At about seven fifteen, Mary Margaret was seated at a table at Granny's, when David walked in for some coffee, which Ruby gave him. She pretended to be reading a book, but then David turned around and noticed her there.

"Morning," he greeted her.

"Morning," she replied, looking at him.

"I should go. I'm going to be late for work," he replied.

"The animal shelter, right?" she replied. "How's that going?"

"Oh, well, the apes haven't taken over."

"Yet," she added for him.

He chuckled. "Not on my watch."

They both chuckled at that.

He walked away to leave the diner for work.

Katherine walked in and had obviously seen.

"This is making a volcano?" she questioned, as she sat down in front of her.

"I was —," Mary Margaret started.

"I get it," she interjected.

Mary Margaret informed her of his routine every morning. Then she told her, "I just like to come here to see him."

"So you're a stalker," she commented, but half-joking.

"No, not really." Then she thought about it. "Maybe a little bit. I mean it's not like I'm following him. I can't get him out of my head. Love's the worst. I just wish there was a magic cure."

"I know," Katherine replied, knowing somewhat of what that felt like.

Later, Mary Margaret was walking through a trail, when she heard a bird making a sound and found the bird trapped in wire, so she took her to the animal shelter. Because the bird was rare and a part of a flock that formed strong ties to one another, she had to find the flock before they migrated, so she could be with her flock. Otherwise, she'd end up alone forever. David offered to help her with the bird, but she declined, even though there was a storm coming.

Katherine was loading stuff into a car to be ready for the storm, when Regina showed up.

"If you're looking to blame me for the storm, find something else to do," Katherine said.

"I'm here to ask you for help. I need you to look into something for me. Someone's in town. Someone new."

"Yeah, I know. I gave him directions to Granny's the other night," she informed the mayor.

"You talked to him? What did he say?"

"He asked for directions. What's the big deal? Who is he?"

"I don't know," Regina admitted. "I asked around, but no one seems to know anything. There's something about him. Something familiar."

"He must be one of the untold millions you cursed," Katherine commented.

"What?"

"Oh, the curse. Henry's whole thing," she reminded her.

"I need you to find out who he is," Regina told her. "What he wants and what he's doing here."

"You know, there's no law that says someone can't visit Storybrooke," she reminded her.

"This isn't about the law. You're going to do this because I asked you to. And because you'll see it's the right thing to do."

"And why's that?" she questioned her. Katherine never liked being told what to do and she wasn't about to start now.

"Because he was in front of my house, taking an interest in Henry."

When Katherine heard that, she didn't hesitate. "I'll look into him," she assured her. Being a mother herself, she could only guess how Regina felt about someone she didn't know, taking an interest in Henry.

Regina watched, as Katherine got into the car and drove away.

After having a chat with the stranger, he showed her that the box held an old typewriter and the stranger said that he was a writer.

After the storm passed, Mary Margaret and David got the bird back to her flock and both admitted their feelings for one another and that they couldn't get each other out of their heads. Then, the next morning, they kissed. Unknown to them, Regina was in her car and saw everything.

 **Ch.11: Fruit of the Poisonous Tree**

After the storm had hit, he and Katherine went to the castle, which had broken but the book was still there. Regina found them to get Henry to his appointment and then she accused Katherine of not having Henry's best interest and to be responsible, now that she was sheriff.

After Sydney showed up later to tell her that he had something on Regina, Katherine believed him and they became allies. But when she accused Regina of doing something she shouldn't, it turned out that she was building a playhouse, instead. Little did she know, she was being played by Sydney and Regina both.

Afterward, Regina informed her that she wasn't welcome anywhere near Henry, so Katherine was stuck sitting in her car, watching from afar.

That night, she entered the diner and ordered a shot glass of Bourbon, as usual.

"Looks like we both had the same idea," she commented to Sydney, since he too was having a drink at the bar at Granny's.

 **Ch.12: Skin Deep**

*Flashback*

When the ogre war was happening and they were losing, Rumple appeared in the castle, saying he got the message.

"The answer is yes. I can protect your little town. For a price."

"We shipped you a promise of gold," the king replied.

"You see, I make gold. What I want is something a bit more special. My price is her," he replied, pointing at Belle.

Mr. French turned to look at his daughter.

"No."

"The young lady is engaged," Gaston informed him, not wanting to let him have her. "To me."

"I wasn't asking if she was engaged," Rumple clarified. "I'm looking for a caretaker. For my rather large estate. It's her or no deal."

"Get out," Mr. French ordered him. "Leave."

Rumple began to walk towards the doors.

"As you wish."

"No. Wait," Belle called to him. She went to stand in front of him and he looked at her. "I will go with you."

"I forbid it," her father said.

"No one decides my fate but me," she told him and Gaston. "I shall go."

"It's forever, dearie," Rumple informed her.

"My family; my friends; they'll all live?" she inquired of him.

"You have my word," he assured her.

"You have mine," she replied. "I will go with you forever."

"Deal," he answered her.

"Belle. Belle. You cannot do this. Belle, please. You cannot go with this…beast," her father said.

She turned around to face him and her fiancée.

"Father. Gaston. It's been decided."

Rumple came to stand by her.

"You know, she's right," he told her father. "The deal is struck. Oh. Congratulations on your little war."

With that, he and Belle walked out and headed to Rumple's castle.

*Present*

Since Mr. French hadn't paid any money to Gold as he was supposed to, Gold had his truck be taken, which still had a bunch of flowers in the back. In Storybrooke world, Mr. Gold had a flower shop.

When Gold was heading down the sidewalk, Regina was there, waiting. She wanted to talk to him about something, but he wasn't interested. Then he walked around and left.

Rumple walked into his house, a gun in hand, since his door was open, and found Katherine there. She informed him that she was there, since she got a call that someone saw his door open and thought she should take a look.

"It appears I've been robbed," he stated to her.

"Funny. That keeps happening to you," she answered him.

"Yeah, well, I'm a difficult man to love."

"I'll go find him," she said, once he told her that he and Mr. French had a disagreement recently.

"If I don't find him first," he answered. "Let's just say bad things tend to happen to bad people."

She didn't have anything to say to that, since she knew all too well what that felt like. She'd been a bad person when she was a vampire. As a human, she knew she had to do better. She couldn't be who she used to be; especially, not in this town.

She left the house to go look for Mr. French.

That night, he found him and at a cabin in the woods, used his cane on Mr. French to get him to tell him where his chipped cup was at, but then Katherine found him a few minutes later and stopped him. Because of what he did to him, he didn't have a choice but to lock him up in the cell at the station. Mr. French was going to be okay, though.

The next day, Regina let Katherine and Henry hang out for half an hour, while Regina visited Gold. Once Henry and Katherine left, she went to stand in front of his cell and Gold stood.

"You really wanted that little chat, didn't you?" Rumple said.

"Apparently, this is the only way I could do it."

"When two people want what the other has, a deal can always be struck. Do you have what I want?" he replied.

She gave a smile.

"Yes."

"So, you did put him up to it then."

"I merely suggested that strong men take what they need."

"And you told him exactly what to take, didn't you?"

"We used to know each other so well, Mr. Gold. Has it really come down to this?" she replied.

"It seems it has, yeah. But you know what I want. What is it you want?"

"I want you to answer one question," she answered him. "And answer it simply. What's your name?"

"It's Mr. Gold."

"Your real name."

"Every moment I've spent on this earth, that's been my name."

"But what about moments spent elsewhere?"

"What are you asking me?" he questioned her.

"I think you know. If you want me to return what's yours, tell me your name."

He gave a smile, before answering her, "Rumpelstiltskin. Now give me what I want."

"Such hostility."

"Oh, yeah."

She brought the chipped cup out of her purse.

"Over this? Such a sentimental keepsake."

She handed it to him and he took it.

"Thank you, your majesty." He sat down. "So, now that we're being honest with each other, let's remember how things used to be, shall we? And don't let these bars fool you, dearie. I'm the one with the power around here. I'm going to get out of here in no time. And nothing between us will change."

"We shall see," Regina replied.

He watched, as she left, before looking down at the chipped cup.

That night, Regina went to where she liked to keep certain people in closed cell rooms. She gave the nurse a rose and then stood in front of Belle's cell and looked in.

From where Belle sat on the bed, she looked to see Regina looking at her from the other side of the door.

 **Ch.13: What Happened To Frederick**

It was a beautiful day, as Katherine arrived at the diner, just as the stranger was leaving.

"I've been meaning to bump into you. Matter of fact, I was hoping we might grab that drink I promised," he told her.

"Are you asking me out?" she inquired. She didn't trust strangers much and she didn't feel that she was available, considering she still loved both Elijah and Damon, even if they weren't in town.

"Well, if putting a label on it makes you more comfortable, sure. Let's call it a date," he replied.

"I thought you came here to write—find inspiration."

"I'm optimistic about our date."

"See, I have a policy—I won't go out with guys who won't tell me their names. I like honesty these days, and you seem to be keeping a lot of secrets, or one big one. It was nice talking to you."

She walked past him to enter the diner, when he spoke, which stopped her.

"It's August. August W. Booth."

She turned to look at him. "Well, at least we're getting some honesty."

"So, there goes your reason for not meeting me here after work," he replied.

She walked inside and Mary Margaret questioned her, having been waiting for her there.

"Who was that?"

"I don't know yet," she replied, not wanting to tell her anything until after she knew more than his name.

"Yet? You're going to find out?"

"It's nothing," she said.

"Nothing with you means something. Because if it were nothing, we wouldn't be talking about it."

"I'm sorry—I thought you called me here to talk about you?"

"Yeah, but talking about you is easier right now."

"What is it? What's going on?"

"Remember when we agreed I should stay away from David? I didn't."

"Yeah, I know," she replied.

"You do? How?"

"Because I'm sheriff, and you are a lovesick school teacher. Covering your tracks isn't exactly your strong suit."

"Well, I've been discrete."

"Two teacups in the sink, new perfume, late nights, plunging necklines. It was not hard to connect the dots."

"Plunging?"

"When I met you, you were a top button kind of girl."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I'm not your mother," she replied. She didn't want to add in that she had been a mother herself before, though. Not when she didn't remember that she was Snow White.

"No," she agreed.

"I just figured that you would let me know when it was time. I'm assuming it's time," Katherine replied.

Meanwhile, August had Henry's book in a dark room with its pages out. He was treating them and some were hanging on a clothes line so they could dry. Part of the book had already been rebound and August now was rebinding some more pages into the book with string.

In the meantime, Regina and Henry were sitting on the couch in Regina's office, Henry with a box in his lap, which had a bow on it.

"Oh, go on. Open it," she encouraged him.

"What's the occasion?"

"The occasion is I love you. Go on," she replied.

Henry opened the box and pulled out a video game.

"Now, I know you miss your book, but with this, you can do the heroics. You can save the princesses; you can be the hero. Henry, you have to believe me. When I tore down the playground, I did it for your safety. Please, don't be upset with me. I really didn't mean to destroy your book."

"It's not just the book," he told her.

"Okay, then what is it?"

"It's Katherine. I want to see her," he informed her.

Later, Katherine and August met in the woods by a well that was at the edge of the forest.

"I thought a drink was, like, wine or whiskey or maybe a little Bourbon," she greeted.

"What, do you want me to get you drunk?" he inquired.

"No; Of course not," she replied. Maybe with someone she knew, she'd enjoy being drunk with, but not someone she just met.

"Next time," he assured her.

"You are optimistic," she stated.

He handed her a cup and then began to pull up the well's bucket.

"They say there's something special about this well. There's even a legend. They say that the water from the well is fed by an underground lake, and that lake has magical properties."

"How do you know all this? You've been here before?" she questioned him.

"I know all of this for one very simple reason—I read the plaque."

"You actually believe this?" she asked.

"I'm a writer. I have to have an open mind. Water is a very powerful thing. Cultures as old as time have worshipped it. It flows throughout all lands, connecting the entire world. If anything had mystical properties—if anything had magic—well, I'd say it'd be water. If you need evidence, Katherine, you're going to find yourself stuck in one place for a long time," he replied.

"Maybe I'll just find the truth before anyone else," she answered.

"Well, there's one thing I can tell you for sure, and I know you'll agree with me. It's good water," he replied.

They toasted.

Katherine was brushing the leaves from the forest off of her car, when she noticed a red metal box in the gutter. She knew it was the same one Henry's book had been in, so she grabbed it and opened it. The book was inside, fully intact.

Henry was playing his video game on a bench outside the school, when Katherine walked up to him with a bag and sat down next to him.

"Wow, you're really loving that game, aren't you?"

"Yeah, my mom got it for me. My mom's picking me up in, like, five minutes," he replied.

"Alright. I'll be quick, then. I just have something I'd like to give you." She took the book out of her bag and gave it to him.

"You found it! Where'd you get it?" he replied.

"I found it in a gutter. It must have fallen off the dump truck on the way to the junkyard and got tossed around in the rain. And, somehow, made its way back to me," she replied.

"Wow. That's crazy."

"What other explanation could there be?" she inquired.

"I don't know."

"Well, whatever happened, it came back to me."

"Maybe, it means our luck is changing. Operation Cobra is back on. It's a sign. Things are getting to be better," he replied.

"I hope you're right," she replied, and left.

*Flashback*

Prince Charming rode through the woods on horseback until he reached a clearing with a cabin.

"Snow! Snow White! Snow! Are you there?" he called.

Red Riding Hood emerged from the field next to the clearing.

"She's gone. She never came back after she went to find you."

"Then I'll find her. I will always find her. And I will convince her that we belong together. I will always fight for her, no matter what comes between us," he replied to her.

"It won't be much of a fight."

"What are you talking about?"

"Snow wants to be with you more than anything."

"Don't mock me. Snow told me that we can't be together because she doesn't love me."

"She left her to break up your wedding, because she's in love with you. Unless, something changed her mind along the way…"

"Not something—someone."

Horses were heard in the distance and King George and his men began to charge towards them.

"James? Who are they?" Red questioned him.

"That's someone—King George."

"Bring me his head!" King George shouted.

"Come on!" Charming said, and got on his horse and helped Ruby onto the back of his horse. Then they took off as King George shot arrows in their direction.

 **Ch.14: Dreamy**

After announcing to everyone at the diner to remind everyone about the annual event coming up, which didn't get any volunteers, Mary Margaret left.

Later, LeRoy, known as the town drunk in Storybrooke, met Astrid and helped her with some bulbs. Then, later on, he promised her that they'd sale all of the candles this time so they could pay the rent they owed to Gold in two weeks. Unknown to them, they'd met somewhere entirely different back in the day.

*Flashback*

After meeting the fairy whom felt like she always did the wrong thing, he gave her hope that things could turn out better for her, and that she would make a wonderful fairy Godmother. He did that by saying, "If you can dream it, you can do anything." Then she spoke of fireflies, though he didn't understand or know that she was inviting him along with her to see them.

Later, when he was feeling down, he met Belle. They began talking and after he told her what the fairy said, she informed him that she was inviting her to go with her, so that's what he did.

Later though, after the Blue fairy came to him, he couldn't go explore the world with her like they both wanted to, because otherwise, she'd be giving up her dream to be a fairy Godmother, because she'd have to get her wings taken away. So he told her that they couldn't go away together because he was a dwarf and she belonged with other fairies. And so he returned to the tunnels to continue his work as a dwarf.

*Present*

When his promise of selling all of the candles didn't pan out, he had to think of another plan.

After a drink with Mary Margaret, he got an idea and went to the roof and used an ax to make the lights all burn out.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, since she'd followed him up on the roof.

"Selling candles," he replied to her.

Because it was dark outside and there were no lights working because of what he did, everyone bought every single one of the candles, so the promise he made to Astrid came true.

He went over to where Astrid was, a box of the money in hand.

"Five thousand bucks. Peace of cake," he said.

"You sold them all?"

"Well, I had a little help," he admitted.

"You made it happen," she replied, amazed.

"You have no idea," he replied with a smile.

"I don't know what to say."

He handed the box over to her and she took it.

"You're welcome," he replied.

"It's beautiful," she stated, seeing fireflies coming out.

He turned and saw them and looked at them with her.

 **Ch.15: Red-Handed**

Ruby was in the diner, talking to August whom was talking to her about what the outside world has. Because she was talking to him for too long, Granny was trying to get her to stop.

"Ruby, quit flirting and get over here," she sternly told her.

She finally listened to her and they had an argument, so Ruby told her, "I quit," and left the diner, taking her apron off.

Later, after Whale finished talking to Ruby whom had a luggage bag with her and a leather jacket on, Katherine and Mary Margaret saw her.

When Ruby and Mary Margaret began to talk and Ruby said she quit and was leaving, but didn't know where to, Mary Margaret offered her to stay with them. She accepted, so they walked home together.

The next day, after seeing the way Ruby could handle talking on the phone at the sheriff station, Katherine gave her a job of deputy.

After Ruby left to get her and herself something to eat, Henry informed Katherine that Ruby was Red Riding Hood and that she didn't know what she was capable of. Then he locked the book up in the bottom drawer of the desk at the station and went to school.

*Flashback*

After thinking that her boyfriend, Peter, was the wolf that had been attacking people and killing people and livestock, Ruby met him in the woods and chained him up.

After Granny found that Snow White was in her bed instead of Ruby and Snow White had the cloak on, Snow White told her where they were and as they searched in the woods for them, Granny explained that they came from a family of wolves. Granny was bitten by Ruby's grandfather but eventually everything except for her smell had vanished. Ruby's mother had it too. Granny thought it had skipped Ruby, but it started at 13, so Granny paid a wizard to make Ruby's cloak which kept her from turning.

After they put the cloak on her and she changed back, Ruby found out that she was the wolf and that she had killed Peter.

*Present*

After working for a while at the sheriff station, Ruby decided to come back to work at Granny's Diner again. So, after apologizing to Granny, Granny let her come back.

 **Ch. 16: Heart of Darkness**

After August and Henry had a little chat about the book and faith and so on, and after August left, Henry took the book out of his bag to look at it.

After realizing that he was having blackouts, David went to Archie for help. When he did, he didn't know exactly what he remembered. All he knew was that he and Mary Margaret were in the woods and he was telling her not to kill her. So he kept the memory to himself, not knowing what to think. Nobody was missing, so that meant she hadn't harmed anyone. Unknown to him, that memory wasn't of the present day; it was back in the enchanted forest when they knew that they were Snow White and Prince Charming.

After receiving that memory, David left.

Later, Katherine went to Gold, asking for his help, wanting to go up against Regina again.

"I thought you didn't approve of my methods," Gold said.

"I approve of your results."

"You're willing to go as far as it goes?"

"Farther," she replied.

"Regina may be powerful, but I think you're more powerful than you know," he replied.

When he said that, she assumed he knew something about her that she didn't know that he knew. Maybe he knew that she had a little magic of her own that she hadn't shared or shown with anyone. Henry was the only one that knew her story, since it was in his book. Ever since her arrival and since her story had appeared in the book, nobody but Henry and herself had read the book. As far as she knew, anyway. But then again, she'd known ever since she first met Gold that he was powerful and seemed to always know something that others didn't. He was a lot like herself when she'd been a vampire. Always knowing something that others didn't know that she knew.

 **Ch.17: Hat Trick**

Katherine was driving through town, when she almost ran some guy over. She got out of the car to make sure he was okay. He said he was, but when she saw that he was limping a little, she gave him a lift to his place, which she found to be huge, though he was the only one living there as he informed her. She then helped him inside, deciding to be kind, and he told her that his name was Jefferson and she introduced herself. He gave her some hot tea, which she drank, thinking he was just being kind to her. It turned out that something had been in the tea.

When she woke up, she was on the couch with her hands tied in front of her and her legs duct taped and there was a gag. Knowing that some witches could move things with their minds, she tried it with her Traveler magic and succeeded in untying her hands and undoing the gag that way. Then she manually undid her legs and silently got up and investigated.

When she got to a certain room, she saw that he'd been watching her through a telescope. She then searched some more and found a room where Mary Margaret was gagged and tied to a chair. She didn't expect that but did get her untied.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned.

"I was in the woods, when he came out of nowhere and grabbed me," she told Katherine.

"How'd you get out?"

"There was a key in my cell."

"Who put it there?"

"I don't know."

"Let's just get out of here," she told Mary Margaret and they began to silently walk through the house.

Jefferson appeared with a gun in hand, pointed at them.

"Tie her up," he told Katherine. "You didn't tell me about her, which means nobody knows you're here."

"I don't take orders from anyone," Katherine replied. "I don't know who you are or why you're here, but I'm trying to be a better person than I was before. But one thing hasn't changed. I don't listen to those that try to tell me what to do. I do what I want when I want." She then spoke to Mary Margaret. "Get out of here. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay."

Mary Margaret did as Katherine told her to.

"Now, you want me here for a reason. You got me here. Now why did you bring me here?" she replied.

He took her by the arm and brought her into a room that was filled with hats.

"I've been in this house the same as always for twenty-eight years. Then you showed up and everything changed. You're special. You brought something precious to Storybrooke. Magic," he explained to her.

"What do you want?" she asked him. "You brought me here for a reason and it wasn't to give me a history lesson about magic."

"I want you to get it to work," he replied. He sat her down in the chair. "You're the only one that can do this."

"Get what to work?" she inquired.

She looked at the table in front of her and saw a black hat. Seeing that, she began to realize who Jefferson really was. The Mad Hatter.

He tossed some black cloth on the table in front of her.

"Make one like that," he instructed.

"You want me to make a hat? You don't have enough?"

"Well, none of them work, now do they? Or else you would be here. Now make a hat and get it to work," he replied. He sat down in a chair that was in the corner of the room. "You have magic. You can do it."

"Just because I have magic, doesn't mean I know even the first thing about making a hat," she countered.

"You're not leaving here until you make my hat and get it to work," he replied.

"Then what?" she questioned him, as she began to cut the cloth, trying her best to do what he asked of her.

"Then I go home," he answered her, now sitting in front of her at the table.

Once she succeeded in making the hat, she tried to make it work as he asked, but it wasn't working.

"I can't make it work," she admitted.

"It has to. If it doesn't work, I'm never going home. I'll be cursed to live in this house forever."

"What's wrong with this place? It's beautiful," she assured him.

"It's cursed. Just like everyone else here, everything I love has been ripped from me," he informed her. "Take a look."

She looked in the telescope to see a girl with parents, having dinner. Then she looked at him.

"That's Grace. My Grace. Here it's Paige. She doesn't know who I am or remember where we came from, but I do. That's my curse," he explained.

"To remember," she stated, getting it. She always was a quick learner, after all.

"What good is this house, this place, these things, if I can't share them with her?"

"If she really is your daughter, why don't you reach out to her and tell her?" she questioned him. She knew she'd want to do the same if it were her daughter.

"Because I'm trapped by knowledge. You think I'd inflict that awareness on my daughter? It's hard enough to live in a land where you don't belong."

They stood in front of each other.

"That's why you want me to make the hat work. You just want to take Grace home to your world," she realized.

"It's the one world where we can be together. Where she'll remember who I am."

"I know what it's like to be separated from your daughter, but with different circumstances. I'm sorry for what you're going through, but at least your daughter is still alive. Mine I lost twice. The last time was from a werewolf bite."

"So you'll get it to work," he assumed.

"I can try," she replied.

Later, after finally getting a hat to work, he let her go, so she went to see Henry. When she was on a bench with him, Paige said hi to Henry and then left to go inside the school. She was curious, so she asked to see his book so he let Katherine see it. That's when Katherine found the story of The Mad Hatter. Seeing his story, she saw that he was right. He did have a daughter.

"Can I hold onto this?" she questioned him.

"Absolutely," he replied.

 **Ch.18: The Stable Boy**

*Flashback*

It was a beautiful day, as young Regina, road a brown Thoroughbred, her father watching and praising her, when she got all the jumps correct.

She rode her horse over to her father and dismounted.

"That's beautiful, sweetheart," he praised her and they hugged.

She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, daddy."

"Beautiful?" her mother questioned, having been watching from afar, and now approached them. She chuckled. "I'd hardly call that beautiful."

Regina petted the horse. "So you don't like it, mother."

"You ride like a man. A lady should be graceful. You should use a saddle."

Regina chuckled. "I was just having fun."

"You're getting a little too old for fun. Who's gonna wanna marry you when you act like a hoglet?"

Her father intervened.

"Please, leave her alone."

Her mother looked at him.

"Stop coddling her. She's becoming an old maid. All the other girls her age were married." She sighed. "I had such high hopes."

The stable boy intervened.

"M' lady, perhaps this saddle—," he began, but Regina cut him off.

"I'm done riding for the day," Regina said, as she walked away with her horse at her side. She stopped in front of him with the horse. "And don't ever interrupt my riding ever again." She then let him take the horse to the stables. When the stable boy had gone, Regina sighed and then looked at her mother. "Why do you always have to criticize me?"

"I'm not criticizing you. I'm helping you," her mother assured her.

Regina began to walk away and her mother turned around to watch her, before saying, "Don't you walk away from me!" Then she used magic to stop her.

"Mother! You know I don't like it when you use magic."

"And I don't like insolence. I'll stop using magic, when you start being an obedient daughter."

"Why can't I just be myself?" Regina questioned her.

"Oh, because you can be so much more. If you'll just let me help you."

"I don't care about status. I just want to be—," Regina began, but her mother used more magic on her.

"Cora, please," her father pleaded with Regina's mother.

Regina finally gave in and told her, "I'll be good."

Cora stopped her magic.

"Excellent. That's all I wanted to hear."

Regina ran off to the stables after what Cora had done, where the stable hand was still tending to the horse.

She approached him.

"Daniel? I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"That's alright. You'll just have to find some way to make it up to me."

A moment later, they were kissing.

A few nights later though, Cora found out and killed him in front of her, because she thought that she was doing what was best for Regina, and because of the fact that Regina and Daniel were going to run away together and get married. She didn't want that for Regina. She wanted Regina to be queen like she was.

*Present*

It was a beautiful day, as Regina stood in front of the window in her room, the ring in hand, in remembrance of Daniel. Even after all those years of becoming what she was now, and had been for a long time, she still loved him. When Cora had told her that love was weakness and that it would fade with time, she came to realize that her mother was wrong. Her love for him, even after all the evil she'd done, hadn't faded. She was just as much in love with him as she had been when he'd been alive.

 **Ch.19: The Return**

After having caught August snooping around for something in his shop, Rumple asked Katherine who he was and then investigated where August was staying at, only to find what kind of writer he really was, when he found a drawing of the dagger with his name on it. Then he left.

Later that night, Rumple came to Hopper's office but wasn't sure whether to go in or not. When they met in the hallway though and he told Rumple, "If you have something to get off your chest, please come in," Rumple finally decided to come in. He then told him that he had a son whom he may have found. When he said that he didn't know what to do now that he thought he knew his son was in town, Hopper offered him the advice of telling him when he just told Hopper; Be honest. Rumple had never been good at honesty though, and Rumple knew it.

After some talking later that night with him, in the woods, Rumple asked him for forgiveness and August, which Rumple called Bae, said that he could forgive him. So they were reunited and it seemed that all was well. Rumple even handed the dagger over to him.

When August used it to try and control Rumple, Rumple realized that August wasn't his son, after all. Rather, he was someone else.

"You're from my world, aren't you?" Rumple questioned him.

"The fact that you have to ask that question means you already know the answer," August replied.

"That settles it then." Rumple got him up against a tree, the dagger to him. "Who told you about me and the knife?"

"A little fairy," he answered.

"The fact that you know who I am, means you know what I mean. The chances of you surviving this little encounter is slim, so why take the risk?"

"Because I'll die anyway."

"What?" Rumpled questioned.

"I'm sick. I'm sick and I need magic. I was gonna get the Savior to bring back magic, but I don't think I'm gonna live long enough to see that happen."

"She trusts you. Might be enough," Rumple replied. He let go of him and stepped back. "Try again."

"You're gonna let me live?" he inquired.

"You're gonna die either way," Rumple said, grabbing his cane. "This way, at least I get something out of it."

August watched him walk away.

 **Ch.20: The Stranger**

Henry was outside school, when Regina came by.

After giving him his lunch box he forgot, they sat down at a bench and Regina told him that she thought that it was time for him to switch schools. When she said that, he began to talk about the fairytales, saying that whatever she does to keep Prince Charming and Snow White apart, it'll never work, because good will always win, and called her the Evil Queen.

Afterward, she left.

Later, when Katherine and Henry were at Granny's Diner together, he was looking at the book and showed her that there was a new story in it. The story of Ghepetto and Pinocchio. It was unfinished, though, so Henry thought that the reason for it was that someone was trying to tell them something. Probably something important.

Later that day, Katherine was walking down the street, when August came and invited her to go with him on a little trip. He wanted to tell her who he was. Because she wanted to know who he was, she agreed.

Once in the woods, he finally informed her who he was; Pinocchio. Since she was already a believer, she obviously believed him, although she hadn't known about the magical tree that had been the one to bring him to this world. That part was a new one for her.

Later that night, he found Ghepetto in the garage where his father lived, working on a clock. He reminded his father whom didn't remember him because of the curse, how to finish up fixing the inside of the clock. Then it worked. He then asked his father if he didn't mind having an assistant, since he looked a little shorthanded, what with all the things that still needed fixing. His father agreed, even though he didn't remember August.

 **Ch.21: An Apple Red As Blood**

After having a bad dream the night before and then waking up to find her apples starting to turn different colors, she got ready for the day and went to Rumple's shop.

She entered with an apple in hand.

"Your Majesty," Rumple greeted. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he questioned, seeing who it was, when she entered, since he was already at the counter.

"My tree is dying. Why?"

"Perhaps it needs fertilizer," he replied.

"You think this is funny," she replied. "Well, I'll tell you what I think. I think it's the sign of the curse weakening, because of Katherine. But do you care? No. You're content to just sit back and do whatever it is you're doing, while all my hard work burns."

"That's not all," he stated. "Come on. Get it off your chest."

He came around the counter.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied.

"The curse was made to keep Prince Charming and Snow White separated. Perhaps Henry is the price you have to pay to keep the curse unbroken."

He walked back around the counter again.

"I think I'd rather just get rid of her," Regina replied.

"Oh, well, you're gonna have to be quite creative. We both know the repercussions in killing miss Pierce," he replied.

"The curse will be broken," they said together.

"That's because you designed it that way," she reminded him. "Undo it."

He walked around the counter to stand by her.

"You know, even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Magic, well, is in short supply around here, and dwindling by the minute," he informed her.

"You want the curse broken," she realized. "Why?"

"That's not something I care to discuss."

"Don't bother. You can shove your reasons. I want to strike a new deal. One where I can get rid of Katherine without shattering the curse."

"Unfortunately, for you, a negotiation requires two interested parties, and I'm going to be planning a trip."

"I'll give you anything," she offered him.

"You no longer have anything I want, dearie," he replied. "But I will give you a piece of advice for your charge. I'd plan a trip of your own. Because once people have wakened up, and they remember who you are and what you did to them, they are going to be looking for blood."

Regina soon left the shop.

After allying herself with Jefferson, she found a solution or so she thought, by bringing a poisoned apple from their world into ours and using it to make some food for Katherine. Katherine obviously was smart though, and didn't eat it. Henry ended up eating some of it, though, which did to him what it would do to anyone.

 **Ch.22: A Land Without Magic**

After what happened and after Henry was at the hospital, Regina arrived, having been told.

"Outside," Katherine said to her, before leaving the room. Then, once they had both left the room, she informed her, "The apple turnover you gave me, he ate it."

"What? That was meant for you," she replied.

"This is your fault. Fix it. This is on you."

"I can't. That was the last of the magic I had left. Magic is unpredictable in this world," Regina informed her.

"So, what's going to happen to him then?"

"I don't know. There is someone else that knows about magic that can help us, though," Regina replied.

"Rumpelstiltskin," Katherine stated, knowing who she meant.

After having a talk with Rumple, he directed them to an old friend of Regina's; someone that wouldn't be very happy to see her, considering Regina had punished her by putting her in a different form.

Before going into the elevator, Katherine told her, "He may be your son, but if he dies, you're going to get to know who the old me was."

After entering the cave, she realized what Regina had meant by "I trapped her in a different form than everyone else." She had meant that Regina's old friend was trapped in her dragon form.

While she was in the caves, Jefferson had just opened the cell that he knew Regina had Belle in. He then told her to let Gold know where she's been and that Regina locked her up. Then he let her go. Belle didn't remember anything, though, so she didn't know who Jefferson or Gold was, much less Regina. And so, she found Gold and though she didn't remember him, they were reunited at last and she told Gold everything that Jefferson told her to tell him. Then they hugged.

After defeating the dragon and grabbing the egg that held the potion of true love, she entered the elevator, but found that it wasn't going anywhere. Then she saw Gold whom had her toss the egg up to him, thinking that maybe this time he'd be on their side, only to find out, once she got there, that he was on his own side. He was gone and Regina was tied up. She then went to the hospital with Regina to see if she could find a way to save him without the potion, though when she and Regina both got there, they were told that it was too late. If she knew anything throughout her 500 years as a vampire and her years as a human though, she knew that anything was possible if you believed in it. Even when things seemed impossible, things could turn around for the better.

Believing that it wasn't too late, she kissed him on the forehead and she felt a wave of magic.

A moment later, he woke up.

"You saved me," he greeted.

"I guess I did," she agreed.

When they noticed that people started murmuring to each other, he said, "The curse. I think you broke it."

"That was true love's kiss," the Blue Fairy informed her.

Katherine was silent, not knowing how that would be true. She cared about Henry, but she didn't have enough motherly love for him to have true love. At least, she didn't think so.

"No," Regina said.

The Blue Fairy looked at Regina.

"If I were you, your Majesty, I'd find a place to hide."

Regina went to where Henry was sitting up in bed.

"Henry. No matter what you think, no matter what anyone tells you, I do love you," she said, before leaving the room to take the Blue Fairy's advice.

Outside, on the street, Snow White and Prince Charming found each other.

"Snow!"

"Charming."

They rushed over to each other.

"You found me," Snow White stated.

"Did you ever doubt I would?" he inquired.

A moment later, they were kissing.

Meanwhile, Regina was sulking, at home, and Belle and Rumple were in the woods.

"Wait," Belle said, as Rumple continued walking through the woods, her behind him a ways.

"No, no. We're very close," Rumple said, heading for the well in the woods.

"Rumpelstiltskin," she called to him. "Wait."

He turned around to face her, when she said his real name.

She walked over to him to stand in front of him.

"I remember. I love you."

They hugged.

"And I love you, too," he said, as they hugged. Then he pulled away. "But hey, they'll be time for that. There'll be time for everything. But first, there's something that I must do."

He continued on walking and she silently followed him.

They stopped, once they reached the well.

"What is this?" she questioned him.

"This is a very special place, Belle. The waters that run below are said to have the power to bring back what one has lost," he explained to her, before tossing the entire container of true love potion into the well. Then the purple true love potion began to leak out of the well and throughout the town.

Katherine was still at Henry's bedside.

"Henry, what's going on here? If the curse is broken, then why didn't they go back?" she questioned, knowing that Henry had thought that once it was broken, everyone would go back where they belong.

"I don't know," he admitted to her.

A moment later, they saw purple stuff coming towards the town and they knew something was coming.

Rumple and Belle were still in the woods, Rumple informing her that he was bringing magic to Storybrooke.

"Why?" she asked him.

"Why? Because magic is power."

 **Ch.23: Broken**

After the purple fog disappeared, everyone remembered who they were and were reunited.

After Henry and Katherine joined the dwarfs, Snow White, Prince Charming, Granny, and Ruby on the street and Henry said that she saved them, LeRoy asked, "Then why are we still here?"

"That, my friend, is an excellent question," Charming replied.

"What was that smoke?" Sneezy asked.

"Who did this?" another dwarf asked.

The Blue fairy approached.

"Magic. It's here. I can feel it."

"Magic? In Storybrooke?" Henry asked her. "You're the Blue Fairy. Do something magical."

"It's not that simple, Henry," she admitted. "The wand; the fairy dust; Matters are complicated now."

"So let's go to the person responsible for bringing it," LeRoy suggested. "The Queen." The other dwarfs agreed.

"It wasn't Regina," Katherine tried to convince them.

Rumple was still at the well with Belle.

"My darling Belle, you have to tell me what happened to you," he said, though he assumed who the culprit was that did that to her.

"I was abducted," she informed him.

"Regina," he stated, knowing only one person that would do such a thing to her.

"She locked me away until the curse, so I've been in the asylum ever since."

"For 28 years? All these years, you've been here, alive."

"Is that why you did this?" she asked him. "Why you wanted magic? For revenge?"

"No," he denied. "But it might come in handy."

"No. No."

"I cannot let this stand. I will not let this stand!"

"Look, promise me. Promise me you won't give into your hate. Promise me you won't kill her. Promise me we can be together."

He touched the side of her face.

"I promise."

A moment later, they shared a kiss for a couple moments, before they hugged.

They were still talking, when they saw a bunch of people running through the street, a ways away.

A moment later, they were met by Archie.

"There you are. I need your help. Come. Whale's whipped them into a frenzy. They're going to Regina's house. They're gonna kill her."

"Great. Let's watch," LeRoy commented.

"No. No matter what she's done, killing is wrong."

"He's right. Please. She's still my mom," Henry said to Katherine.

"We have to stop them," Katherine said.

"If the Blue Fairy is right and magic is here, Regina could have her powers back. They'd be marching into a slaughter," Charming told them.

With that, they headed for Regina's house, to save their lives if need be. Katherine knew if she didn't have her magic back, they'd be saving Regina, instead. She knew by personal experience that no one deserved to die, and it sucked to die.

Rumple entered his shop with Belle.

"You wait here, Belle. I'm gonna find you something to wear. You've spent enough time in those rags."

"Thank you," she replied.

He went to the back of his shop and pulled out a container that held a sort of necklace, once he had put leather gloves on. It was a medallion connected to a chain like a necklace. He'd gotten it from a flying creature called a wreath, one way or another.

Whale arrived with the people and banged on Regina's door.

"Open up. Open up or we're coming in."

Regina opened the door.

"Can I help you?" she asked him with a smile.

"That smirk isn't gonna last forever, Regina. You took everything from us, and now—," he began.

"What? You're gonna kill me?"

"Eventually. But first you need to suffer."

She walked out onto her porch.

"Listening to you has been enough suffering for all of us."

She shoved him away. She looked at the crowd of people.

"That's right. You wanted to see your Queen? Well, my dears, here. She. Is," she said, attempting to change her dress code into the black clothes she'd worn back in the Enchanted Forest, but nothing happened. It surprised her that it didn't work.

"She's powerless! Get her!" someone shouted.

"What?" she questioned.

Whale got her against the outside wall of her house.

"Where were we?"

Katherine arrived and went towards where they were.

"Let her go!"

She got to the porch and Whale looked at her.

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I'm still the sheriff and she didn't bring magic here."

"Because she saved you," Charming added. "All of you."

"And no matter what Regina's done, it doesn't justify **this** ," Snow White added.

"We are not murderers here," Katherine reasoned, looking at Whale.

"Yeah, well, we're not from this world," Whale reminded her.

"Well, you're in it anyway," Katherine reminded him.

Charming got onto the porch.

"Okay, Whale, we're done." He stood between him and Regina, facing Whale. "Back off."

"You're not my Prince."

"Who are you, Whale?"

"That's my business."

"Well, my business is making sure this town doesn't go to hell, so whether or not I'm your Prince, isn't the issue. We have a lot to figure out, and this isn't the way to do it."

Snow White stood on the porch, next to Regina, looking at the crowd.

"And Regina's death won't provide any answers. She needs to be locked up. For her safety, and more importantly, for ours."

After Snow's reasoning, Charming put her in one of the cells at the station.

"So I'm a prisoner now."

"If the curse is broken, why didn't we go back?" he demanded of her.

"Because there's nothing to go back to. That land is gone."

Snow whom was standing by him, said, "We should get Gold."

After Katherine, Henry, Snow, and Charming left, Regina started trying to do magic to get the door open, but nothing happened. Then Rumple appeared.

"Magic is different here, dearie," he informed her, as he walked over to her cell.

She looked at him.

"I noticed. I assume this is all your doing."

"Most things are," he replied.

"Get to it, Rumple. What do you want? You here to finish the job?"

"No, no, no. You're safe from me."

"I feel so relieved," she stated.

"I made a promise to someone that I won't kill you."

"Who could illicit that from you?"

"Belle," he answered her.

"She's alive."

"You are a dreadful liar."

"I could've killed her, but I didn't."

"You did much worse than that. You kept her alive so you could kill her when it suited you. A fate worse than death. Which, dearie, is exactly what I'm going to do to you."

He grabbed her arm and put the medallion in her hand, and pressed down so it would make an impression.

"Is that—?" she began.

"Yes, dearie. The one thing no one can escape. Destiny. I promise this one will be particularly unpleasant."

He let go and she pulled her arm away. Then she looked at her hand.

After summoning the wreath in the woods, Rumple went to his shop, where he put some tea on.

Katherine, Snow, and Charming entered.

"How can I help you?" he asked.

"How about you tell us what you did," she said.

"You'll have to be a little more specific."

"You know darn well what we're talking about," Charming said.

"You double crossed Katherine. You took the potion from her," Snow said.

"You did who knows what to this town," Charming said.

"Worst of all, you risked Henry's life," Katherine reminded him.

"Well, that is quite a list of pretenses, now isn't it?"

"Maybe I don't need answers from you."

He went around the counter to stand in front of her.

"Let me answer your questions with some of mine. Did Henry survive?"

"Yeah," she answered.

"Is the curse broken?"

She was silent.

"Looks like you should be thanking me."

"What was the purple haze you brought?"

"You know, magic," he answered.

"Why?" Snow asked.

"Not telling."

Suddenly, there was almost like an earthquake for a moment.

"What the hell was that?" Katherine questioned.

Charming went to the door to look, and Snow followed suit. When they did, a sound of something was heard.

"This is my gift to you," he answered Katherine. "That is going to take care of Regina."

"Katherine, come on," Snow called.

"We need to take care of this," Charming told her.

"We are not done," Katherine said.

"Oh, I know," Rumple replied. "You still owe me a favor."

Rumple watched them go.

Belle came out from the back of the shop, a gray and white checkered dress on.

He saw her.

"Hey."

She stood in front of him.

"You lied to me."

"No, I kept my word. **I** will not kill her."

"No, you toy with words. Like you do people. You're still the man who makes wrong choices. I thought you'd changed."

"In how long you've known me?"

She began to storm out.

"Belle, I—I'm sorry." She looked at him. "I am."

She closed the door behind herself.

Regina saw the lights flickering and stood.

"Who's there?"

A moment later, the wreath appeared and magically tossed the jail cell door aside. Then it reached a hand towards her and blue magic shown, as it began to take Regina's soul.

Charming arrived and grabbed a chair and hit it with it, as he said, "Hey!"

The wreath tossed him aside and he landed against a wall. The desk began sliding towards him, but he was able to get out of the way. Snow was there, too.

The wreath went back to sucking her soul.

Snow approached with a bottle of something and a lighter.

"Over here!"

It looked at her and she used what was in her hand, which set it on fire. It made a noise and flew out the window.

Katherine came from behind a desk, and watched it flee.

Regina was on the floor, coughing.

Katherine went over and helped her to her feet.

"What the hell was that thing?"

"A wreath," Regina answered. "A soul sucker."

"Did I—?" Snow started.

"Kill it? No. It's regenerating. It'll be back. It doesn't stop until it devours its prey. Me."

"How do we kill it?" Kat asked.

"There's no way. Can't kill something that's already dead."

"Then we have a problem," Kat stated.

"No. We don't. Regina does," Charming interjected.

Regina looked at him.

"What?"

"David," Snow said.

"You're going to let her die?" Kat asked. She couldn't believe that he was saying this. She was new to town, but she knew Charming's story well, and he usually wasn't one to let someone die.

"Why not? When it goes away, we'll be safe."

"Let me ask you something. Where do you think that thing came from?" Regina replied. "Gold."

"I made a promise to Henry and I don't break my promises. She's not dying," Kat told him.

"If it can't be killed, then what do **you** suggest?" Snow questioned Regina.

"Send it somewhere where it can't hurt anyone."

Once at her office, and after bringing Jefferson's hat out, Regina asked her, "Did Henry really ask you to protect me?"

"Yes," Kat replied. "It's not just that. My parents were killed many years ago. I wouldn't want the same thing for Henry."

Snow and Charming came into her office with three brooms.

"Torches for when it comes back," Charming announced.

Regina set the hat in the middle of the room on the floor.

"This will open a portal to our land. All we have to do is send the wreath there."

"Oh, yeah. Just that," Charming commented.

"I don't understand. I thought our land was gone," Snow said, suspicious.

"It is. Sending it to a place that no longer exists, well, that's banishing it into oblivion."

When the wreath came, Regina had a difficult time in getting the hat to work. Then Kat put a hand on her arm and it worked.

"It's coming!" Charming warned.

They stepped away from the hat and the wreath was sucked through, but so was Kat.

Belle entered the back of Rumple's shop, where he was spinning what looked to be wool.

"Hey."

He saw her.

"Hey."

"I went for a long walk," she told him.

"I thought you didn't want to see me."

"I didn't. But I was worried."

"Well, the beast is gone and Regina lives."

"So, you didn't get what you wanted."

"Well, that remains to be seen."

She saw the chipped cup by the spinning wheel, and she picked it up. "You still have it." She chuckled and smiled. "My chipped cup."

He stood and took it from her.

"There are many things in this shop, but this—this is the only thing I cherish. And now you must leave."

"What?"

"You must leave, because despite what you hope, I'm still a monster," he informed her.

She rested hands on his shoulders.

"Don't you see? That's exactly the reason why I have to stay."

 **Ch. 24: We Are Both**

After testing the border to see if they could leave by having one of them cross the town line, the LeRoy had Sneezy go and then something happened.

Meanwhile, everyone was fixing what the wreath had caused in its quest to try and get Regina's soul the night before. People were panicking, so Hopper had a sign-up sheet for those that needed counselling and Blue and Ruby were helping in other ways. Charming told everyone to meet him there in two hours and he'd have a plan, although he didn't have a plan right now.

In the meantime, Regina was trying to get a candle to light with concentration, trying to figure out magic in this world. She almost got it, but ti didn't quite work.

Later that day, after getting her mother's book from Rumple, Regina got her magic back.

When Henry told and showed Charming Jefferson after seeing the beat up hat, Charming got something from Rumple to put on the hat to find Jefferson, in which he did. That's when Charming found out that the Enchanted Forest still existed, which meant that Katherine had survived. It was just the matter of getting her back. Unlike everyone else, apart from Henry, Katherine had never been to their world, and Charming and Snow knew what dangers were there. Jefferson wasn't much of a help though, since he ran off to who knew where.

After running into Mulan and Aurora, Katherine got captured and was taken to what Mulan called the pit. That's when she met someone else; someone that came from the darkness of the cave.

Katherine looked at the person in the shadows.

"Who are you?"

"A friend." The person came out from the shadows so she could see her better. "My name's Cora."

She gave Katherine a smile once she'd introduced herself as Cora.

 **Ch.25: Lady of the Lake**

Cora and Katherine were still in the cave.

"What is this place?" she questioned her.

"It's a little island our captors like to think of as their haven."

"From what?" Katherine inquired.

"The world's dangerous. What's left of it, anyway."

"Well, I don't know about you, but they can't keep me here. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Neither did I."

"Then why are you here?" she asked, suspicious.

"I'm here because of something my daughter did. The curse that ravished this land? She cast it," Cora explained.

"Regina," Katherine stated. "You're Regina's mother?"

"Yes, but you have nothing to fear from me," Cora assured her. "The apple fell very far from the tree. You're from over there, aren't you? How'd you get back?"

They were interrupted when Katherine was brought out of the pit, having been told that their leader wanted to see her, in which she found to be Lancelot.

After some talking, since she wanted to leave, he let her, but wanted her to let Mulan go with her for protection.

"No offense, but I can take care of myself. No matter the danger, I always survive."

With those words, he let her go, even though he didn't think it was safe for her to be going alone.

Back in Storybrooke, Henry found Jefferson at the docks, sitting on a bench, looking at a drawing someone had drew; probably his daughter.

"Jefferson, right? The Mad Hatter," Henry greeted, sitting next to him, and Jefferson folded the paper back up. "I need your help."

"I already told Charming. I can't do anything."

"I know, but there must be something we can do," Henry replied.

"I'm the wrong person to talk to, kid. That's just not my thing. Try your mother. Maybe she's got something in her vault somewhere."

"Vault? Her vault is here? In Storybrooke?" he asked.

"It's none of my business. Talk to **her** ," Jefferson told him.

"What's that?" he questioned, seeing the paper that was still in his hand. When he asked that, Jefferson put it in his jacket. "Your daughter's looking for you, isn't she?"

"What do you know about it?"

"I read your story. I know how you two were separated. Why are you here? She's at school."

"I have to go home, kid," Jefferson said, getting to his feet.

"She probably wants to see you," Henry said, going to stand in front of him.

"Get out of my way."

"Why don't you want to find her?"

"Because I left her. She'll hate me."

"How do you know that?" Henry questioned.

"I was on my way. Fate reminded me that I shouldn't."

"You should. Anything is better than nothing. She'll spend her whole life wondering why you left her. Not knowing is the worst."

Later, Henry called Regina to have lunch with her at Granny's to get her out of the office. Then he found her vault and began looking for a way to be able to get Katherine out of the Enchanted Forest and back here, but then Charming found her after he was told by Regina that Henry stood her up. Then they left the vault.

Back at the Enchanted Forest, Katherine remembered what the book had said about a magical wardrobe so, even though there wasn't any magic or not enough of it, she went in search of Snow White and Prince Charming's castle, assuming it would be there. It was one of the ways she figured was her ticket back to Storybrooke.

After she found the castle after a couple days, she went inside and found the wardrobe. Then she saw Lancelot come into the room. When Lancelot was admiring the wardrobe a little too much though, she knew he wasn't who he appeared to be.

"Who are you? You're not Lancelot. Anyone without magic wouldn't be so intrigued by a magical wardrobe."

Purple smoke billowed around Lancelot and his form changed to Cora.

"Clever girl," she said with a smile. "I just want to get to my daughter. Is that too much to ask?"

"Well, I'm quite smart. I know how to be one and even more than one, step ahead of the enemy. I also know what it's like to be a mother, though I wouldn't say I know what it's like to raise a child. What I do know is the difference between a good mother and a bad one. I've read Regina's story. I know what you've done. I'm not letting you through that wardrobe. Even if I have to stay here a little bit longer."

"You're too smart for your own good I see," she replied.

"You're not the first person to tell me that. Everyone I know outside of Storybrooke either hates me, doesn't even know I died, or want me dead, so I've been called worst."

They did a magical face off and she magically through Cora across the room and then set the wardrobe on fire.

Cora stood and Katherine looked at her.

"We're not done," Cora said, before doing a disappearing act.

 **Ch.26: The Crocodile**

After seeing that Rumple had been doing something with magic in the basement of the house, she confronted him the next day and then she left and had some iced tea at Granny's. Then she met Ruby whom offered her a job at the library, since she said that she loved books.

After finding Belle gone and window open, Rumple assumed that she'd probably gone out unannounced or been taken, so he went to her father whom said he didn't know where she was and called Rumple a monster.

After Belle's father told him that he didn't know where Belle was, Rumple went to Charming to report her as a missing person, though he wasn't sure if she was missing or if she had ran away. He'd lost his wife, Mila. He didn't want to lose Belle.

*Flashback*

After the night Bae and Rumple went to find Mila whom was drinking with Captain Hook and his crew, Mila left Rumple and Bae both to sail with Hook, having fallen for Hook. She hadn't wanted to live the life they were living and she didn't want to have a coward as a husband. So, she left. Rumple saw it as Hook stealing her from him, though and went to Hook's ship to get her back. It didn't pan out since he was only human at the time.

After a while of turning into The Dark One, he found Hook and said that he wanted a duel the following night. And so, they did so. Because Rumple had magic and Hook didn't, he was bested by The Dark One he called The Crocodile.

Rumple stood over Hook with a foot on the sword.

"Do you know what it's like to have your wife stolen from you? To feel powerless to stop it? It feels like having your heart ripped from your chest. Actually, let me show you."

Rumple put a hand through his chest where Hook's heart was.

Mila appeared, seeing what Rumple was about to do.

"Stop!"

Rumple turned his head to look at her.

"Mila?"

He had thought of her as dead, since Hook had told him that she had died years ago.

Rumple took his hand out of Hook's chest and stood, looking at his wife.

"Mila," Rumple said. "How?"

From where Hook was on the ground, Hook told her, "Mila, you have to run."

Mila looked at Hook.

"No. I'm not leaving without you."

"How sweet," Rumple commented. "It appears there's more to this tale than I know. Tell it to me, Mila."

"Please, don't hurt him. I can explain," she pleaded with him.

"Tick tock, dearie! Tick tock!"

"That first night when Killian and his crew first came into the tavern, he told stories about the places he's been, and I fell in love with him. I didn't mean for it to turn out this way. I didn't know how to tell you the truth. I'm sorry," she explained.

"And so, here we are. You've come to save the life of your true love. The pirate. I didn't realize the power of true love before. It is impressive. I'd hate to break it up. Actually, no; I'd love to."

"Wait. I have something you want," Mila offered him.

He looked at her.

"Well, I find that very difficult to believe."

She brought out a red hat.

"The magic bean in exchange for our lives," she offered. "Deal?"

"I want to see it first," he said, now standing in front of her.

*Present*

When Belle was trying to get into the library, she was kidnapped and found out that the guy was put up to it by her own father. She tried to reason with him letting him know that she wasn't held captive and that she fell in love with him, but her father told the guy to do it.

Meanwhile, Rumple and Charming were still looking for Belle.

While they were heading to Granny's, Rumple asked Charming how he and Snow do it, to understand how to make it work with Belle.

"Honesty and hard work," Charming informed him. "There's a difference between literal truth and honesty of the heart. Nothing taught me that more than the curse."

When they went to Granny's, Ruby said she pointed Belle in the direction of the library and didn't know if she went there or not, but she did leave something in her booth, which Rumple said was his since she didn't have anything for the cold. Then Ruby helped them by tracking her scent because of the wolf thing. Ever since the curse broke, she'd been able to smell odors more intensely.

When Charming saw Belle's father's hands, he knew that he'd been in the mines and that there were tunnels that led out of town, so they went there to look for her, putting her father in the back of her father's truck and driving her father's truck.

*Flashback*

After the night of the duel, Rumple found the Jolly Roger where Hook and Mila were.

"Looks like you found a family. One you couldn't have with me," Rumple greeted Mila.

Mila showed the magic bean to Rumple and tossed it to Hook, whom took it.

"You've asked to see it. Now you have," Hook said.

"Do we have a deal?" Mila asked Rumple. "Can we go our separate ways?"

"Do you mean, do I forgive you?" Rumple countered her. "Can I move on? Perhaps. I see that you are truly in love. Just one question."

"What do you want to know?" Mila asked him.

"How could you leave Bae? Do you know what it was like walking home that night—"

"Rumple—," Mila said.

"knowing I had to tell our son—"

"Please—"

"his mother is dead?"

"I was wrong to lie to you. I was the coward," she admitted.

"You left him! You abandoned him!"

"And there's not a day that goes by that I don't feel sorry for that."

"Sorry, yes! You let him go."

"I let my misery cloud my judgment," she admitted.

"Why were you so miserable?"

"Because I never loved you."

Because those words hurt him, he ripped her heart out.

"No!" Hook yelled, but was magically tied to a pole. He got free though and caught her when she fell to the deck.

She looked at Hook.

"I love you."

Rumple crushed her heart, which turned to dust, and she died in Hook's arms.

Hook looked at him.

"You may be more powerful now, but you're no less a coward."

"I get what I came for now," Rumple said.

"You'll have to kill me first," Hook said, the bean still in his hand.

"I'm afraid that's not in the cards for you, sunny boy," Rumple replied, and took out his sword, before cutting off Hook's hand.

Hook was on his knees in pain.

Rumple picked up Hook's chopped off hand.

"You're alive, because I want you to suffer like I did."

Hook used a hook on the deck to stab into him to kill him, but it didn't kill him. Rumple didn't even show any pain from the hook.

"Killing me is going to take a lot more than that, dearie," Rumple said.

"Even demons can be killed," Hook stated. "I will find a way."

"Well, good luck living long enough."

Rumple vanished and Hook picked up the hook, and then looked over at Mila's body.

*Present*

Once in the mines and after finding where she was, Rumple used magic to bring the cart she was in to a stop not far from him and the others that were there. Then he magically took the handcuffs off her.

"Seriously. Wow," Ruby stated.

Charming helped her out and Rumple came over to her.

"Belle, are you alright?"

"I—I think so."

"You remember who I am?"

"I do. Rumpelstiltskin. I remember."

They hugged.

Her father watched from a distance.

She pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Rumple asked.

"Thank you for what you just did, but that doesn't change that you're too cowardly to be honest with me."

"Belle, that's not—," he began.

"I tried to tell you, Belle. Come with me, darling," her father said.

"After what you just tried to do to me?" Belle questioned him. "You're no better, father. You don't get to decide what I do or how I feel. I do. If either of you cared about me, you would've listened. I don't want to see either of you again."

The next morning, after she ordered pancakes and after Ruby told her where the syrup goes and stuff, Ruby told her that someone dropped a little black box off at the front desk for her. Ruby gave it to her and when Belle opened it, it was the key to the library.

After breakfast, Belle opened the library and walked inside.

Rumple came from one of the aisles.

"You gave me the key," she said.

"I knew it peaked your interest and I made some inquiries. There's an apartment for a caretaker if you want it."

"If this is some way to win me back, after everything you've—"

"That's not why I'm here. I came, because you're right. About me. I am coward. I have been my entire life. I tried to make it up by collecting power. The power became so important that I couldn't let go. Not even when it meant losing the most important person in my life."

"Your son," she stated.

"Baelfire. That's his name. After he left, I dedicated myself to finding him. I went down many many paths. Until I found a curse that could take me to the land that he escaped."

"Here."

"Now I find myself in this little town with only one thing left to do. Wait for the curse to be broken so that I can leave and find him."

"But instead of looking for him, you brought magic," Belle reminded him.

"Because I'm still a coward. Magic has become a crutch that I can't walk without. And even if I could, I know now that I can never leave this place," he admitted.

"Because anyone who leaves, forgets the people they love. So when you go to look for Baelfire, you won't know him."

"Magic comes with a price. Belle, I have to break this new curse. That's why I was using magic. That night you saw me down in the basement. I have lost so much that I have loved. I don't want to lose you again, without you knowing everything." He rested a hand on the side of her face. "Goodbye, Belle."

He turned around and began to walk away, but stopped, when she asked him, "Have you ever had a hamburger?"

He turned around to look at her.

"Yes; Of course."

"Well, I haven't. But I hear Granny's makes a great one. Maybe we could try it sometime," she offered.

"I would like that."

She watched, as he turned around again and left.

Hook was surveying what looked like an island a ways away, as he stood on what looked like maybe a beach.

Cora approached.

"Hello, Hook."

He stopped looking, putting away his spy glass, and looked at her.

"Hello, Cora. You told me you had something important you needed to show me."

She pulled out what she had put remains from dust in which now was dust with purple combined.

"Sparkling dust. Wonderful," he said, seeing it.

"Just the remains of a magical wardrobe that can travel between worlds."

"Is there enough to get us ready to go?"

"Not quite, but it's a start," she replied.

"I'm almost ready to set sail. What's our port of destination?"

"Storybrooke," she answered.

"Curious name. Is that where—?" he began.

"She is and so is he," she answered him.

"Excellent. You'll be able to see your daughter, and I can skin myself a crocodile."

She gave a smile and they just looked at each other.

 **Ch.27: The Doctor**

Katherine was walking through the Enchanted Forest, when she saw a bunch of rumble and what looked to be a massacre.

She approached and saw that there was one survivor. She was wary, since she didn't know what to expect from him. She recognized him from Henry's story book. She knew who he was by his face; especially, when she saw that he had only one hand.

She put a sword to him, where he stood.

"What happened? Tell me the truth, because I usually know when someone's lying."

"Cora. She ripped their hearts out."

"Why did you survive?" she questioned.

"She sent me to learn everything there is about your Storybrooke. She didn't want any surprises when she got over there."

"I destroyed the wardrobe. Her only way there is a portal."

"The enchantment still exists. She just needs a compass. You seem to be safer company, so I'm willing to make the same deal with you. If you take me with you, I'll help you get that compass."

"Answer me this one question. Why does Captain Hook want to go to Storybrooke?" Katherine asked.

"I want to exact revenge on the man that took my hand. Rumpelstiltskin."

"Fair enough, but if you're working for Cora, I'll give you a fate worse than death," she warned, and put her sword down.

"Fair enough," he replied.

Katherine put the sword back in its sheath that was around her waist.

"Lead the way to this compass," Katherine told him. Then they began walking.

During a rainy night in Storybrooke, while Regina was driving, she saw Daniel standing in the rain on the corner by a store. When she went to unbuckle her seatbelt, he vanished from her sight.

The next day, Charming took Henry to the stables and told him which horse was his. He told him that he had to muck out the stall and brush and groom the horse, and that the horse would tell him when the horse was ready for him to ride him.

Meanwhile, Regina went to her family vault to make sure that Daniel's body was still in her vault, only to find out that his body and the glass casket she'd had him in, were both gone; vanished. That's when she knew what had happened. She realized that Doctor Whale had taken him to try and bring him back to life and, if her eyes hadn't deceived her the night before, he'd brought him back to life. Though nobody else knew who he was, she knew that Doctor Whale was someone that didn't have magic. Instead, he used other things to experiment on whether he could bring people back from the dead or not. He wasn't from the Enchanted Forest, though. He was from another world, but similar to the Enchanted Forest. He'd failed to bring him back the first time, but she had hope that he'd succeeded this time.

When she found Whale, he was in a lab, injured, which had stuff scattered all over the place, and he informed her that he had brought him back to life, but he was a monster.

Regina was outside of his hospital room, when Charming came over and began asking her what was going on and what happened. She then explained to him that she thought it was probably like when he'd woken up from a coma. She thought he was probably retracing his steps to the last place he saw her. The stables. Then Charming told her that Henry was there.

Henry was brushing the horse, when all the horses began getting spooked and his horse bolted out of the stall and he looked to see a guy in the stall doorway.

Once at the stables, she told Daniel to let him go, which he did, and Charming told Henry to go once he knew he was okay. Then, after some argument, Charming let her deal with Daniel.

"Daniel, come back to me," she said, as they stood in front of each other.

"I can't."

"I love you," she stated.

"Then love again."

When he was back to not being himself again, he began to come towards her, but she used magic to freeze him and then make him disappear.

Meanwhile, back in the Enchanted Forest, Katherine and Hook were walking together through the woods.

"It's just up that ridge," he informed her.

He stopped walking and she did likewise, and saw that there was a giant bean stalk.

"Let me guess. The compass is up there."

"Oh, yeah," he replied.

"You expect me to climb up that thing?" she inquired.

"It's not the climb you have to worry about. It's the giant on the top."

He began walking again, and she did likewise.

 **Ch.28: Tallahassee**

Hook and Katherine stood not far from the bean stalk.

"Well, the compass awaits," he said. "Shall we?"

He began walking towards it, ready for the climb.

She followed.

"Let me ask you something. If magic beans make portals, why not go get one and go home?"

"Because there aren't any more beans. The giants grew all the beans, but instead of using them for good, they used them to plunder all the lands. Jack fought a terrible war, defeating all but one of the evil giants. The beans were destroyed by the giants so if they died, if they couldn't have the magic, then no one could. Very bad form," he informed her.

"So evil giants made magical portal beans. If the giants are dead, why doesn't anyone go up and grow some more?"

"Because one giant survived. The most evil and terrible of them all. We have to get past him to get the magic compass. The treasure remains, and amongst it is the compass. It will guide us to your land. Cora has the means to open a portal with the wardrobe ashes, but she can't find your land without the compass. We get it, steal the ashes from her, and we're on our way," he replied.

"There's got to be a catch in there somewhere. What's the catch?"

"I failed to mention that the giants enchanted the bean stalk to repel intruders, but I've got a couple of these." He held up his arm to show her something black enchanted around his wrist. "Cora was to accompany me, but since you're far safer company, let's get to it."

She stood in front of him.

"Let's just get this over with," she said.

"Put your hand right there," he instructed.

She put her hand on his shoulder, so he could put the extra one around her wrist.

"That's a good girl. This will allow you to climb, but there are other dangers."

She put her hand down, once it was around her wrist.

"Don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second."

"I would despair if you did," he replied.

"Let's go," she said.

They began to climb.

After a while, he began to talk, as they climbed.

"First bean stalk? You never forget your first." She didn't say anything, so he added, "You know, most men would put your silence as off putting, but I love a challenge."

"I'm concentrating," she simply said.

"No, you're afraid. Afraid to talk; to reveal yourself; to trust me. Things will be a lot smoother if you do."

"Why should I? Besides, trust is putting it mildly when it comes to you."

"Ah, the pirate thing. But I don't need you to share. You're something of an open book," he replied.

"Am I?" she inquired, wondering how he'd know things about her, when she hadn't really shared anything about herself. They didn't even know each other very well or at all.

"Quite. You're the most motivated. You have someone to get home to. You don't want to abandon that someone the way you were abandoned."

"Was I?" she inquired.

"Like I said. An open book."

"How did you know that?" she wanted to know.

"I've spent many years in Neverland. Home of the Lost Boys. They all share the same look in their eyes. The look you get when you're left alone. Love's been all too rare in your life, hasn't it? You've rarely been in love."

"You're wrong about that one. I loved someone once and then someone else, and I'll always love them both, but only one of them I believe may or may not come back for me. It's complicated. Family always comes first for him before love. He puts his duty to his family before his love that he has for me still. After all, 500 years of love doesn't just go away," she replied.

They got to the top.

"This is where the final battle was," he told her.

She looked around at the aftermath and he noticed a cut on her hand.

"You're hurt. There's a cut on your hand."

She turned and looked at him, and they stood in front of each other.

"It's fine."

"No, it's not," he said.

"Now you're going to be a gentleman?" she inquired.

"I'm always a gentleman. Let me see your hand."

She figured that he wasn't going to give up, so she let him see her hand and he opened a bottle and poured some of it onto the cut. She normally wasn't one to show her pain, but she exclaimed in pain, when he did that, since it stung.

"What the hell is that?"

"It's rum," he informed her. "Terrible waste of it."

She watched him, as he tied a strip of cloth around her hand, onto the cut.

"Here's the plan. Wait for the giant to fall asleep. When he does, we sneak past him into his cave, where the treasures are."

"Then?"

"Then we run like hell," he replied.

"I don't have time to wait for a giant to fall asleep. I've got a better plan."

"And what's that?"

"Magic, of course. I'll magically put him to sleep. Then we find the compass and get out of here." She saw his tattoo. "Who's Mila on your tattoo?"

"Someone from long ago," he simply stated.

"Where is she?"

"She's gone," he informed her.

"Gold. Rumpelstiltskin. He took more than your hand from you, didn't he? That's why you want to kill him."

"You're quite perceptive, aren't you?"

After putting him magically to sleep, Hook made the comment of, "I don't mean to upset you, Katherine, but I think we make quite a team."

She gave him a look and said, "Let's go steal the compass."

Once in the room full of treasure, they saw a skeleton with s sword, after Hook was pondering out loud of how much treasure they could carry in addition to the compass.

"That is Jack," Hook commented.

He began to step back, not noticing a wire, but she saw it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she warned.

They ended up with hands around each other, very close.

"About bloody time," he said with a smile.

She stepped back.

"It's a trip wire." She looked around to see a cage. "And that is the security system."

"I suppose that's an excuse for grabbing me, but next time don't stand in ceremony."

"Let's find the compass, so I can go home," she said. "After you."

He stepped over the wire and she did likewise.

She came over, when he asked her to give him a boost, so he could get to higher ground to having a look.

"So I can't see what you're pocketing? No way. You give me a boost," she said stubbornly.

"Try something new, darling. It's called trust."

"We do it sideways fast. Who knows how long until he wakes up."

Suddenly, there was shaking of the ground and they realized that he was awake.

When he came into the room, rocks from the ceiling began to fall and Hook got trapped underneath them.

After using magic to make him go to sleep again, she found the compass and then got to Hook.

"You're bloody brilliant," he said, once she'd helped him out from under the rocks. "May I see it?"

She showed the compass to him.

"It's more beautiful than I imagined," he commented.

He held out a hand and she took it. Then they got to their feet and headed out, the compass in her pocket.

 **Ch.29: Child of the Moon**

Since Katherine was still somewhere nobody knew where, possibly in the Enchanted Forest where most of them had come from, Charming was filling in as sheriff, so Charming was the one that answered the call that something had happened down in the mines.

When Charming, Henry, and the Blue Fairy got there, there was a hole in the caves that had a whole bunch of sparkling fairy dust on the ceiling of the cave that LeRoy had opened up with his axe.

"Oh my Gosh. Diamonds. They're back. Magic brought them back," the Blue Fairy said.

"You mean the kind that become fairy dust," Henry said.

"Indeed. We just need to refine them; grind them up," she replied. She then looked at Charming. "Do you still have the remains of Jefferson's hat?"

Charming took it out of his backpack he had on.

She took it and told him, "Lock this up. Keep it safe. By this time tomorrow, we'll have enough fairy dust to make it work again."

"So, Katherine," Henry said.

Charming put a hand on his shoulder.

"That's right, kid. We're bringing her home."

Charming gave a smile at that.

After leaving the mines the dwarfs, and the Blue Fairy had a drink together at Granny's Diner to celebrate, knowing that as long as nothing went wrong, Katherine would be coming home tomorrow.

Ruby was collecting some dishes from a booth, when someone she'd met before said, "a mouse."

"What? Where?" she questioned, looking for one.

He approached to stand in front of her.

"I met me. I was a mouse. My name is Gus. I lived in Cinderella's pantry; I ate cheese; I gnawed on wood; but I preferred the cheese."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ruby wanted to know.

"We haven't had a chance to talk since things changed. I just wanted you to know who I was. Back home."

"Can I still call you Billy?" Ruby asked him.

"You can call me whatever you want, as long as you let me buy you a drink after your shift. I only know Ruby. I want to have a chance to meet Red."

"Um, tonight's actually not great, because, I, uh—," Ruby started, about to say why, but then Belle saved her from having to make something up on her own, by coming over and standing by Ruby.

"We, uh, have plans," Belle told him.

"That's right. It's girl's night," Ruby said, playing along. I'm bringing the cheese. Which has nothing to do with you being a mouse. It has to do with the wine."

"Okay. Maybe, uh, next time," he replied, and left out the back.

She looked at Belle.

"Thank you."

"I can spot a girl in trouble," Belle replied. "He seems really nice."

Ruby looked at the clock for a bit and then at Belle again.

"It's complicated," she replied, before walking away.

Henry was at a booth, having a mug of something, when Charming came over with a glass of alcohol. Seeing it, he questioned Henry.

"Is that coffee?"

"No," he lied.

Charming sat across from him.

"Trying to stay up, huh?"

Henry nodded.

"Still worrying about those nightmares?"

He nodded again.

"Don't be, 'cause when you go to sleep tonight, we'll be right in the next room."

Henry smiled and then Charming smiled back.

"Now, maybe lose the java and go grab a cocoa." He scooted the coffee away from Henry.

Henry left to go do as he was told to do.

The King from the Enchanted Forest sat across from Charming.

"Congratulations, sheriff. Quite a celebration."

"What are you doing here?" Charming questioned.

"You may have taken care of me in the old world, but in this one, we get another go at each other."

"Whenever you're ready," Charming replied.

"It's a big moment for you, isn't it? On your way to getting Katherine back."

"Must be hard for you, watching good win."

"Good? So, sure of yourself. But I know the truth. You're still just a shepherd, pretending to be a prince. You weren't fit to run the kingdom. You sure as hell aren't fit to run this town."

"I think people of Storybrooke might disagree with you," Charming replied.

"There's going to be a day that they'll see it my way; that they'll see you for who you really are. By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish you'd killed me when you had the chance."

Charming got up from the booth.

"The people of this town know who I really am. And they've seen me defeat you before. So if you try and take me down, they'll see it again."

The King gave a smile.

Charming took his drink from the table and gave him a smile, before walking away.

Charming went into the kitchen to see Granny and Ruby doing something with the freezer.

"Almost done," Granny said. "Let's finish pulling out the perishables."

Ruby took the frozen lasagna out of the freezer.

"What the hell is this?" Charming asked.

"We're making a cage," Ruby told him. "Nobody might want frozen thirty lasagnas."

"I'm sorry. What?"

"I know. Nobody would believe you if you told them the lasagna was frozen," Granny said.

"No. Why are you building a cage?" Charming asked Granny.

"Tonight's the first full moon since the curse broke. It's the first time of wolf's time," Ruby told Charming.

Charming looked at Ruby.

"I thought you figured out a way to control the wolf in you ages ago."

"Yeah, but thanks to the curse, I haven't turned in twenty-eight years," Ruby replied. "I might be rusty, but I can't what happened last time; happened to Peter, happen to anyone else."

"What about your red hood? That could keep you from turning."

"If I had it. I've looked everywhere. I even went to Gold. It's not in town. I don't think it came over with the curse."

"Ruby, I know you. I trust you. Snow trusts you. Wolf's time or not, you won't hurt anyone tonight."

"Maybe. But I can't afford to take any chances," Ruby replied, before walking into the freezer.

Granny closed and locked the door.

The next day, Granny went into the kitchen to open the door to get Ruby out, but saw that the door was completely on the floor and not attached to the freezer, and the entire freezer was marked up with huge claw marks. That made her realize that the freezer hadn't held her in and Ruby was out there somewhere.

Henry was having a nightmare again, that he was in a room filled with fire.

Regina realized he was having a nightmare and sat on the side of his bed.

"Henry? Henry, wake up."

He woke up quickly and sat up in bed.

"It's okay. It's alright," Regina assured him. "Hey."

"What? What are you doing here? Where's David?"

"He got an emergency call this morning and he asked me to look after you. He told me you've been having nightmares. It's okay. You can—," she said, and put a hand on his wrist.

He pulled away, feeling pain on his hand, and saw that there was what looked to be a burn on the side of his hand.

Regina saw it and grabbed his hand to look at it.

"Is that a burn?" She looked at her son.

Meanwhile, Granny was using her senses to find Ruby, Charming following her, Granny with a crossbow just in case.

When she saw her on the forest floor, asleep, Granny told Charming, "Over here." Then she said, "Ruby. Ruby, wake up."

Charming knelt by Ruby and helped her up.

"Where am I?" Ruby asked.

"The forest," Charming replied. "You must've fallen asleep here last night."

"No. No, I don't understand. You put me in my cage. You locked me up."

"The freezer was torn to shreds when I came in to check on you this morning," Granny informed her.

"Ruby. Ruby, it's alright," Charming assured her.

"No! It's not. I don't remember anything from last night. This was exactly what I was afraid of. Oh, my God. Did I do something last night?"

"Ruby, all we know is that you broke out and ran into the woods. There's no reason to assume the worst," Charming informed her. Then his phone began buzzing and he picked it up. After a conversation for a moment, he and whoever had called him hung up.

"What is it?"

"Someone left their car parked in front of the cannery. I've got to check it out on our way into town. Hey. Relax. Everything's going to be okay."

Granny gave a nod, agreeing with Charming and assuring Ruby.

Charming and Ruby got out of the car.

"That's Billy's truck," Ruby inform him.

"Great. Someone I call to call a tow truck," Charming commented. Charming began walking towards the truck and saw how Ruby was acting. "What is it, Ruby? What's wrong?"

"I smell blood."

Charming looked inside the front of the car and then closed the door.

"Where's Billy?"

Granny spotted half of his body, standing by the other side of the truck.

"Here."

Charming saw it.

Ruby screamed and Charming went over and saw that the other half of his body was in a machine that was used to grind things up into small pieces.

"It was the wolf. It was me," Ruby sobbed, grieving over Billy whom she had had feelings for.

Gold, Henry, and Regina were at the Charmings' apartment.

Gold saw the burn.

"Oh, yes. You were quite right to call me."

"So, you can help?" Henry asked. "It was just a dream."

"Well, what you described sounded like more than a dream."

"Then what was it?" Regina asked.

"A side effect. You know, it's remarkable you cast a curse you don't know something about."

"My victims are not supposed to wake up," Regina told him. "That's why I certainly didn't care about what happened to them after."

Gold went over to the table, where he had a black bag.

"Until now," Regina added.

Gold took something out of his bag, as he explained.

"When someone is put under a sleeping curse, the soul travels to another realm, where it resides until they are woken. This world is between life and death. And it's very real. However, even when the curse is broken, sometimes, in sleep, the victims find their way back to that world."

Henry went to stand in front of Gold.

"Victims like you," Gold added.

Regina went to stand behind Henry.

"This other world is tormenting my son every time he sleeps. I went you to give him something that will keep him from going there."

"Well, I'm afraid that's not possible. I can however, give him something that will allow him to control his actions whilst in that world. And once one controls something, one needn't fear it."

After putting some of a vial of blue liquid into a necklace or locket, Gold showed it to Henry.

"A necklace?" Henry asked.

"You wear this wisely, son. Once you control the journey, fear will stop. And then you can come and go as you please."

Henry began to take it, but Regina put a hand on his arm.

"Everything comes with a price with you," Regina stated. "What do you want for this?"

"For a house call? You couldn't afford it. This is for Henry. This one's on me."

Henry took the necklace and looked at it.

Granny, Ruby, and Charming were still where the body was.

"It had to be something else, Ruby," Charming assured her.

"No. I did this. We both know it."

"No. I know who you really are, Ruby. Even if you've lost sight of it."

"It doesn't change the fact that I'm going to turn again tonight, and someone else could get hurt," Ruby said.

"Maybe this isn't the place to have this discussion," Granny recommended, seeing some people starting to crowd around.

"It's okay. I'll protect her," Charming said, and began walking over to the people.

"No," Ruby said, and Charming looked at Ruby again. "Lock me up. The freezer couldn't hold me. Maybe a jail cell will. I don't need to be protected from other people, David. People need to be protected from me," she sobbed.

Granny took Ruby.

Charming locked Ruby in a jail cell with chains around the bars for extra strength to hold her in as a wolf just in case.

"Thank you, David."

"Thank me in the morning," he replied, as he walked away. He opened a drawer to put the key in there. "By then I'll have found whoever really killed Billy."

"You already have," the King said, walking in. "That thing. The she-wolf."

Charming went around the desk to stand in front of him.

"Get out! Whatever issues you have with me, don't involve her. There's no proof Ruby had anything to do with what happened."

"It seems to me you're allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment."

Ruby got up off the bed.

"Leave him alone!" she said, defending David.

"Protecting your friend over the peril of everyone else. I knew you'd slip up, shepherd. It's only a matter of time."

"For what?"

"Justice. Hand her over to me and let the town decide her fate," the King suggested.

"Never. I know exactly what kind of justice you have in mind."

"This town is bigger than you think. I start telling people that you're putting their lives in danger to protect your own interests, you'd have a mutiny on your hands."

"We'll see. You want her, you'll have to go through me."

"I look forward to that," the King said, and then left.

Charming looked over at Ruby, who looked back at him.

Later, when some of the town and the King entered the police station to put an end to Ruby, knowing what she was and what she'd done, Ruby wasn't there.

Meanwhile, Ruby was chained inside the library, and Charming thanked Belle for letting her stay.

"Of course. It's not every day you find out that your friend's—," Belle began.

Ruby cut in saying, "A monster?"

"Being hunted," Belle corrected her. "I was going to say being hunted."

"The crowd's six blocks from here," Granny informed them.

"You, you have wolf hearing, too?" Belle asked.

"It's not all that it's cracked up to be," Granny replied.

Charming suggested finding a way to prove that Ruby didn't have anything to do with Billy's death.

"Granny, we're gonna need your help," Charming said. "If the mob comes this way, call us," Charming told Belle. Then they left.

After handcuffing Belle to the pipe instead of herself, believing she needed to pay for what she'd done, Ruby left the library.

That night, Charming and Granny found out that the murder was pinned on Ruby by King George, also known as Spencer, so that he could find a way to take power away from Charming. They even found Ruby's hood.

There was a howl, signifying that Ruby was out and they soon found both her and the mob.

David went through the mob to stand in front of them all, a distance from King George. He informed them that Spencer killed Billy to make it look like a wolf and stole Ruby's cloak, which made the mob stop and after reminded her of who she really was, Charming put the hood over her and she turned back.

"Thank you. You saved me."

"I saved yourself. I just reminded you of what you already knew."

They came back to the mob to see Granny on the ground.

Charming helped her up and asked her what happened, and Granny told her that Spencer left, so Charming went after him, Ruby with him.

When they found him, he was in the woods in front of a fire.

"You think you can hide from a wolf?" Ruby asked him.

"I wasn't trying to hide."

"You killed an innocent man," Charming said.

"He was a mouse," King George corrected him.

"He was better than you'll ever be," Ruby said.

"You wanna make a deal?" Charming questioned. "It's not gonna happen."

"I'm not interested in making deals. I just want to see the look on your face when you realize something."

King George turned around so that they were face to face.

"What's that?" Charming asked.

"You're never gonna see Katherine again."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You really must be more cautious of something so valuable." He held Jefferson's hat in his hands to show him and then tossed it into the fire.

"No!" Charming said and rushed over to try and save the hat.

"It doesn't matter how much fairy dust you gather, or how much you rally the town behind you, Katherine's gone."

Charming hit him, making him fall to the ground, and put a gun to him.

"David, don't," Ruby said.

The King chuckled. "I told you. You should've killed me when you had the chance."

Charming and Ruby were at the house.

"How am I going to tell him that he's never going to see Katherine again?" Charming questioned, standing over where Henry was sleeping in bed.

Ruby was at the foot of the bed.

"You won't have to," Ruby assured him.

"Traveling between worlds is as hard as it comes," Charming told her, looking at her. "Fairy dust on its own isn't enough. It took Katherine to break the curse in the first place. Without the hat—."

"You'll find another way," Ruby interrupted him.

"You don't know that."

"But I know you. And I know you'll never give up until you do. And, David, you're not going to be doing this alone."

"Thank you," he said.

"Do you mind giving Granny a call?"

"Sure. Why? What for?"

"I may have left Belle chained up in the library. Someone should probably—."

"Unchain her?" he ended for her.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I'll take care of it."

Ruby opened the door to leave.

"Where you going?" Charming asked her.

"I still have a few hours of wolf's time left. You helped me regain control. I wanna do something I haven't done in a very long time."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Run." She took her hood off, handing it to him.

After leaving the apartment, a howl pierced the air, signifying that she was now a wolf.

He smiled.

 **Ch.30: Into The Deep**

When Henry woke up, he informed Charming and Regina that Katherine was definitely alive. He had been able to talk to her and she was with Hook, and they were looking for a way to stop Cora. Katherine had used her Traveler magic to find anyone in her dreams whom was in Storybrooke, to get the information to.

Granny had just brought Gold and Belle's order over which were french fries and a couple hamburgers.

"It smells delicious," Belle said.

"It is delicious," she assured her, and eyed Gold. "And it didn't take Dark magic, either." She looked at Gold. "Oh, and I charge extra for the pickles." Granny then left.

"I have a complicated relationship with her, as I do with most people," Gold told Belle.

"Well, it did take me a little time to get to know you," Belle said.

After he suggested Belle to use ketchup with her food, Regina entered. "Gold." She stood at their booth. "We need to talk."

"Do we?" Gold asked. "Belle, you remember the woman that locked you up for twenty-eight years."

Belle began to get up from the booth.

"No, stay. Anything she has to say won't be a secret from you. Anything she wants, she won't get."

"I'm actually coming for the one thing that might unite us," Regina informed him.

"And what in earth could that be?"

"Cora. She's coming from our land. I need your help to stop her."

"But she is dead," Rumple said. "You told me you saw the body."

"Apparently, you taught her well. She's not and she's on her way here, and I don't think I need to remind you of how much unpleasant that would be for both of us."

"For you. I can handle Cora."

"That's not how she tells the story."

"I won in the end."

"Maybe, but there's a big difference this time. This time, you have someone you care about. This time, you have a weakness."

Belle didn't understand exactly what they were talking about, so she asked, "I'm sorry. Who is this woman?"

"Someone you'll never meet," Rumple assured her. He looked at Regina. "So, you say she's coming. Where is she now?"

"With her," Regina said, figuring she didn't need to say that she was in the same land as Katherine was in.

They got Henry to lay down in the back of Gold's shop.

"So, Cora's pretty powerful," Henry said, having heard about her, but she also was in his story book.

"Not as powerful as I am," Rumple said.

"Debatable," Regina said.

"Actually, it's not," Rumple said.

Charming sat on his bedside.

"You sure you're ready to do this, kid?"

"I was born to do this. I'm done reading about heroes. I wanna be one."

"Well, sometimes being one is knowing when to not run into the fire," Charming informed him.

"I'll be okay," Henry said.

"Look, whatever he faces in there, will be far less dangerous than if we fail," Rumple told him.

Charming looked at him, as he said that.

"I can do this," Henry assured Charming.

Charming got up. "Get on with it. Fast."

Rumple sat down by his bedside at Henry's level.

"Alright, Henry. Just relax. Soon, you're gonna drift off."

"What do I tell her?" he asked.

"Just listen to my bedtime story, and all will be clear."

The story Rumple told him was about the quill Charming and Snow used to trap Rumple in the cell once, which told Charming and Regina behind them what was needed to stop Cora. The ink that was made from the rarest squid.

When Kat went back to sleep, she and Henry had another talk, which informed her that she needed to find the jail cell Rumple had been kept in long ago, which would have the ink from the quill, in which would trap Cora. After this news, she got woken up and saw that it was obviously Hook, since he was the only person she was traveling with.

"We gotta go, luv."

She got up and he helped her. Then she saw why. It was the people that she'd seen that had been dead. That's when she realized that they'd been dead, but somehow had risen from the dead.

"Actually, there's a little something you don't know about me," she replied.

"And what would that be, luv?"

She knew it probably wouldn't last long, since she wasn't sure how they had risen, but she magically snapped their necks, just as she'd seen witches in her world do to vampires.

"Now let's go. I got in contact with Regina's son, Henry. We can stop Cora by using some ink from Rumpelstiltskin's cell. I assume you might know where that is."

"Aye. Snow White and Prince Charming's castle," he replied, and knew exactly what kind of ink she was talking about.

They began walking, Hook leading the way, Katherine walking beside him.

 **Ch.31: Queen of Hearts**

Katherine and Hook finally found Rumpelstiltskin's old cell, which was in what looked to be some caves.

Katherine entered the cell, Hook following behind, but they didn't see a quill anywhere.

Katherine looked around for clues as to where it may be and spotted a brick that looked lose, so she took it out and found a scroll. When she opened it, there wasn't a quill. However, there was, written in ink, her name all over the scroll, repeated so many times. That's what made her realize that he'd known her name before she'd even ended up in Storybrooke, in the first place. He must have seen that she'd be coming and that she'd break the curse. That part she hadn't known, but then again, she hadn't asked him what he exactly knew about her.

Hook saw her look and approached.

"What is it, luv?"

"Rumple knew me before I even appeared in Storybrooke," she explained. "He wrote my name."

He saw the parchment paper that had her first name written all the way to the end of the paper.

She rolled the scroll back up.

"It doesn't matter. I'm from a world with werewolves, vampires, hybrids, witches, and doppelgangers. Anything is possible, which means it's not impossible to see the future. I've known witches before that could see into the future. Let's just go."

She began to leave the cell, and Hook followed her.

*Flashback*

After Regina left Hook in wonderland, Hook was taken by the guards and brought to the Queen of Hearts. When the guy standing by her said that she wanted to know why he was there, Hook said that he was there to see Cora.

Cora took her mask off and stood up.

"In this land, she goes by Your Majesty." Then she told them to leave, in which they did, and she came down the stairs. "Your name, pirate?"

"Hook," he replied, bowing his head to her, still on his knees. Then he looked at her again.

"What a clever nickname," she commented.

He go to his feet and approached her. "I come baring gifts, if you'll allow me." He took a necklace out of his pocket with his hooked hand.

"The hat. Your portal. If I understand correctly, the same number that travels through must also return. You arrived with him," she said, looking over at the body of the soldier that lay behind them a ways. She looked at Hook again. "Who shall you return with?"

"You," he answered her, before stabbing his hooked hand into her chest, but he didn't feel a heart, so he dropped his hooked hand from there. "What?"

"I'm the Queen of Hearts. Do you really think I'd be so careless as to keep my heart where everyone else does? **This** —," She put her hand through his chest and around his heart. "is how it's done. Who did this? Who sent you here to kill me? Who?"

"Your daughter," he answered her.

"Regina. She…wants me dead. You're now going to tell me everything and do exactly what I want, because when you hold a heart, you control it. You have the power."

*Present*

After Ruby and the dwarfs found that the fairy dust was stolen, they went to finding out where Regina and Gold had gone. Ruby asked Henry at the diner, and that's when Henry figured out that Regina lied to him that she and Gold were going to prepare for Katherine's arrival.

*Flashback-continued*

"I've told you all I know. Now have some honor and kill me," Hook said.

Cora still had her hand on his heart.

She laughed. "Honor? For the pirate who snuck into my palace to assassinate me?"

"At your daughter's best."

"She should've come. She should've killed me herself."

She let his heart go and took her hand out of his chest and he fell to the floor. She then went back up the stairs and sat on her throne again.

"Mercy seems a bit out of character."

He got to his feet.

"I'm not mercy, Hook. You're going to help me. Regina knows my methods better than anyone. If I was controlling you, she would know. This has to be your choice."

"Why should I?"

"Because my dear, I'm the only one that can give you what you want."

"Is that so?"

"This curse my daughter plans to enact? This new land she's taking everyone to? You won't remember who you are. So, Captain, tell me something. How do you expect to kill someone, when you can't even remember them? I'll make sure that you not only kill him, but you remember every single moment."

He smiled at that and then asked her, "Well, what shall you have me do?"

"Get me close to my daughter. Then I'll rip her heart out."

Later, Regina thought Cora was dead, but Cora just pretended to be.

After Regina left, Hook came back and helped Cora out. He wanted to know why she didn't kill her. She told him that there was a change in plans, since Regina's curse was going to be upon the land soon.

After protecting themselves from the curse with Cora's magic with a staff, Cora informed Hook that they'd leave to the new land in twenty-eight years, after the curse was broken. Then Hook would get his revenge and Regina would have lost everything, and Cora would help her pick up the pieces.

*Present*

Regina and Rumple found the well in the woods.

"This is where things once lost to us are returned to us," he informed her. "This is where Cora's going to come through."

Regina looked down into the well.

"Unless it's Katherine."

"I doubt it," Rumple replied. "It's time."

"So, what are we waiting for?" Regina questioned.

They stepped back a ways from the well and Rumple held up the dagger. A terrible thunderstorm began and the lightning struck the water inside the well, and a green whirlpool with lightning went into the well.

"No one can survive that," Rumple commented, and they both watched.

Back at the enchanted forest, Cora had gotten the compass from Hook and Katherine the night before. Now she stood at the lake. She poured the ashes into it and a whirlpool began. She was ready to go to Storybrooke and see her daughter.

Suddenly, she was thrown a distance away, magically, and looked to see Katherine and Hook. When she was thrown, she lost the compass in the sand.

"The compass," Katherine told Hook, and he got what she wanted him to do.

Katherine approached Cora whom now stood, as Hook fetched the compass from the sand.

"You're not going anywhere," Katherine told her.

"You think you can defeat me?" Cora replied.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Answer me this, though. Why do you want to go to Storybrooke?"

"Because my daughter needs me," Cora replied.

"She doesn't need you. She's doing quite well without you. I suggest you stay far away from her," Katherine replied.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Cora replied, and tried to take her heart, but she was blasted back by something; something Katherine could only guess as some kind of magic.

Then she joined Hook.

He gave her the compass and they held hands with the compass.

"Let's go home," she said, and then they jumped through the portal together, before it could close, leaving Cora behind.

Regina and Rumple were still standing, looking at the well, when Henry and Ruby found them.

"Mom?" he said.

Regina turned around to see her son.

"You're not helping Katherine, are you?"

"I'm helping you, Henry."

"What are you talking about?" he asked her.

"You're going to kill her," Ruby said.

"Sorry, dearie," Rumple replied.

Rumple magically through Ruby away, knocking her out.

Henry saw what Gold did to Ruby and then looked at his mother again.

"Mom, what are you doing?"

"I can't let Cora come through the portal. You have no idea what she would do to us," Regina answered him.

"Katherine will defeat her," he told her. "She's the one that's going to come through."

"Henry, your mother's right. It's going to be Cora," Rumple interjected.

"No. It won't," Henry replied. "Good always defeats evil. You should know that better than anyone," he added, now looking at his mother again.

"What I know is that my mother would destroy everything I love," Regina informed him. "And that means you. And I can't let that happen."

"Stop it. You're going to kill her," Henry tried to reason with her, as Regina held him back to keep him away from the well. "They're going to make it through. We have to turn it off. You're going to kill her."

He got out of her hold and headed for the well.

Regina pulled him away for his own safety.

"Henry! What are you doing?"

"Katherine is going to come through," he replied to her. "I know this. You said you wanted to change. To be better. This is how. You want me to have faith in you? Have faith in me."

After Henry said that, she took a leap of faith and approached the well.

"Regina," Rumple called to her.

Regina put her hands over the well and the magic that was meant to stop Cora from coming through the well, was sucked into Regina. Then it was gone and she fell by a tree, getting her breath back from it.

Henry looked at the well and Katherine came out of the well. Then she helped Hook out.

"Katherine?" he said softly.

Katherine saw Henry and they had a little reunion. She then saw Rumple starting to walk away and Regina on the ground.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"She saved you," Henry told her.

"Thank you," Katherine said.

"You're welcome. Welcome back."

"Thanks."

Later, Katherine entered Gold's shop, just as he was putting the dagger back inside the box.

"We need to talk," she told him.

"Yes, I believe apologies are in order," he replied, turning around and looking at her.

"No. No apologies necessary. I understand why you wanted to keep Cora out of here."

"Just remind me never to bet against you in the future, Miss Pierce."

"That's not really a bet when the game is rigged, is it?"

"To what exactly are you referring?"

"Your scroll. I saw it in your cell. You wrote my name again and again and again."

"Just wanted to make sure it would stick."

"It was there all the time. You could've gotten out," she replied.

"I was exactly where I wanted to be," he informed her. "You needed to find that so all of this could occur."

"You created the curse, Gold. Everything I've ever done is exactly what you wanted me to do."

"I created the curse dearie, but I merely took advantage of what you are. Everything you've done, you've done yourself."

"So, you don't know."

"Know what?" he wanted to know.

"Cora tried to take my heart, but she was blasted back by magic."

"Whatever that was, I didn't do _that_. You did," he informed her.

Henry approached his mother in the back of Gold's shop.

"I was right. You really have changed." He hugged her and then looked up at her. "Thank you."

After everyone found out that she was back, they planned to have some dinner at Granny's, in which Henry decided to join.

"I'll see you later," he told his mother, before going to dinner with the others.

Meanwhile, Cora had found a way to enter Storybrooke without the compass and now was arriving in town.

 **Ch.32: The Cricket Game**

It was a beautiful day, as Snow and Charming still layed in bed together.

Suddenly, the door opened and Henry walked in, Katherine trailing behind him.

When Henry saw that they were still in bed, he asked them, "Hey, what are you guys still doing in bed? It's the middle of the afternoon."

Katherine went to stand by him and knew what they'd walked in on.

"I needed to rest," Snow answered.

"And I needed to, uh, help her to rest," Charming said.

"Let's go make tacos," Katherine told Henry. "We have to make a lot, because there's gonna be a ton of people at Granny's welcome back party tonight."

Henry walked towards the kitchen.

"I thought you were coming back later," Snow half-whispered to her.

"Yeah. Next time why don't you put a time on the door or send a text," she replied to her. Not wanting to continue the conversation, she said, "You know what? I'm gonna go make some tacos."

That night, Katherine entered the diner with Charming and Snow White and Henry.

Ruby came over, seeing her, and hugged her.

"I was worried."

"I can tell," Katherine replied.

Hopper from behind her, said, "Oh, we all missed you."

Katherine turned around to see him and they hugged.

"Tacos. I can't tell you how relieved I am to cook something that I didn't have to kill first," she told Granny, standing in front of her.

"Don't I know it? Meatloaf back home would've been a bitch," Granny replied.

Charming stood in the middle of the diner and got their attention by clanging a little on his drink that was in a mug.

"I just want to thank you all for joining us tonight. Mary Margaret and I. We have a saying. That we will always find each other. And while I believe that with all my heart, I'd like you all to raise your glasses and join me when I say here's to not having to look for a while."

Everyone laughed and raised their glasses, and Katherine knew he was talking about Snow but also about herself, since this town had been worried about whether or not they'd see her ever again. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had ever been happy to see her so much.

Everyone clanked glasses and then sipped their drinks.

A moment later, Regina walked in.

Everyone turned to look at the former queen.

"Sorry I'm late," Regina apologized, a pan of food in hand.

"What is _she_ doing here?" LeRoy questioned, unhappy.

"I invited her," Katherine said, looking at him.

Everyone was silent.

Regina put the pan on the counter silently.

Snow came over to Katherine.

"We're celebrating this because of Regina," Katherine said, before Snow could say anything. "She helped me get home. Whatever she did in the past, we owe her our thanks." She said that last sentence, looking at Charming.

"You didn't think to tell us about it?" Charming asked.

"I did, but you two were a little busy this afternoon."

"Katherine, she tried to kill you yesterday," Snow reminded her.

"Yes, but she's trying to change for Henry. He believes in her and that's enough for me. I couldn't have changed if I hadn't been given a chance, so she gets one too," Katherine told them.

They just nodded in understanding, not knowing what to say.

As Regina put food on a plate, Henry whom was seated at the bar on a stool, looked at her.

"I'm glad you came."

Regina smiled at him.

"Me too." She looked at LeRoy. "Oh, I made lasagna."

"What's the secret ingredient? Poison?" LeRoy replied.

"Red pepper flakes," Regina replied. "Gives it some kick."

She handed the plate to him and he took it.

As everyone else was eating, Regina was seated at a booth, alone, and then, after a moment, decided to leave.

Katherine saw her leave and decided to follow her out.

"Archie made a cake. You don't wanna stay for a piece?"

"I'm fine. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me."

"Henry wanted it," she replied. "I'm glad you guys got to spend some time together."

"Me too. I'd like to see him more often. Maybe you can let him stay over. I have his room just waiting for him," Regina replied.

"I don't know if that's best."

"Because you know so much about parenting."

"A little, yeah. I do." She turned to leave. "Thanks for coming."

"Wait. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for snapping at you. I shouldn't have done that," Regina apologized.

Katherine turned around to look at her.

"Will you accept my apology?" Regina asked.

"Yes, I will," she replied. "Archie said you're trying to change, and you are."

"Doctor Hopper said I was trying?" Regina asked.

"He said that you came to see him and you tried not to use magic. That you're trying to be a better person."

"Thank you for once." Regina turned around to leave. "I should be going."

As Regina walked down the sidewalk, she was unaware that Cora was watching from a nearby rooftop.

The next day, Regina was walking, when Hopper greeting her with a good morning.

Regina stopped.

"Why should I answer you, bug?"

"Because I'm making friendly conversation?" he replied.

"That you'll repeat to anyone living here. You told Miss Pierce about our sessions."

"I was simply trying to help you," he assured her.

"By betraying my trust?"

"I mentioned only that you had come to see me as an example to a commitment to change."

"I came to you in confidence," Regina reminded him. "How am I supposed to prove to people I've changed, when you're the chirp in their ears to remind them of my past?"

"I said nothing specific. I would never betray a doctor patient confidentiality."

"Doctor? Doctor? Need I remind you of your PHD from a curse?" she questioned him.

Ruby was jogging, when she saw them, so she jogged over to them.

"Hey. Is everything okay here?" she asked, looking at Hopper.

"Private conversation. Go take yourself for a walk," Regina suggested.

Ruby was silent, before jogging away.

"I can be trusted," Hopper assured her. "I assure you."

"You're lucky I've changed."

He watched, as she walked away.

That night, Cora, looking like Regina, went to Hopper's office and took Hopper, faking Hopper's death.

The next day, Henry and Katherine were at Granny's in a booth, Katherine telling him about what it was like in the Enchanted Forest, upon Henry's request.

After Henry went off to school, Pongo came bolting over to Katherine and Ruby. Ruby told her that something was wrong and Pongo led them to Archie's office, where they found his body in his office.

Later, Katherine and Charming walked into the interrogation room, where they had Regina at.

"Why am I here?" she asked Katherine.

"You know why you're here. Because of Archie."

"Oh, it's now against the law to get in an argument with someone?" Regina countered.

"It is if you go to their office later that night and kill them," Charming interjected, leaning against the wall by the glass window.

"Archie's dead?" Regina questioned, and was clearly surprised by the news and also sad about it.

"Stop it, Regina. Ruby saw you going into his office last night," Charming said, not believing her.

"Then she's lying. I was home all evening," Regina replied. Regina looked at Katherine, whom was seated on the table by her. "After everything I've done to change; to win Henry back, why would I toss it all away now? And If I did, and if I was going to kill Archie, you would never know it. The fact that he's dead and you called me, shows sloppiness."

"You have been caught before," Charming reminded her. Charming looked at Katherine. "Come on, Katherine. Who do you think is lying? Ruby or her? She's incapable of change, no matter how much you've given her the chance." He looked at Regina. "Why should this time be any different?"

Charming and Katherine left the room to join Snow White whom was watching.

"So, what do we do with her now?" Snow White asked.

"Lock her up," Charming replied.

"We can't lock her up, because she didn't do it," Katherine interceded.

Snow and Charming looked at her.

"You really believe her?" Charming asked her.

"I watched her when we told her Archie was dead. She didn't know."

"Katherine, I know you want to believe that Regina can change for Henry, but—," Snow began.

"I know what I saw," Katherine interrupted her. "Look at her in there. The old Regina would've reduced us to ashes. That's a woman who wants to change. She just wants everyone else to see it. I know that look. I know her. I believe her."

Charming looked at Katherine.

"With all due respect, you don't know her like we do."

"Maybe that's the problem. I know in your kingdom, she was the Evil Queen, but here she's Regina. And I'm still the sheriff, and I say she's innocent until proven guilty."

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Snow asked.

"Let her go."

"Katherine, she—," he began.

"We let her go," Katherine interjected, and gave him a look. "And we find the truth."

Charming, Snow, and Katherine were at Hopper's office looking for clues, when Charming informed them that Regina's file was empty.

"So, she did it. She killed the kindest soul in this town," Snow said, standing up from the chair at Hopper's desk. "I mean, he only cared about helping."

Charming walked over to Snow.

"I promise, we'll find out who really did this," Katherine said, determined.

"Isn't it time you admit we already have?" Charming asked. "Regina had a fight with Archie. Ruby saw her outside. Now her file is empty. That's…that's a lot of evidence."

"Maybe that's the point," Katherine assumed.

"What do you mean?" Charming asked.

"I don't know how it is in fairytale land, but in the real world, it's usually hard to find evidence. But this has been way too easy. Unless someone wants us to find evidence."

Snow walked over to her.

"So you think she was framed?"

"Well, that wouldn't be the first time it's happened in this town," Katherine reminded her.

"Who would want to frame her?" Charming asked.

"That's a long list, present company included."

"Yeah," Katherine agreed. "but there's only one name on that list who would resort to killing to get what they want."

Katherine gave them a look.

Charming, Snow, and Katherine entered Gold's shop, where Rumple and Belle were with a picnic basket.

"We know that you killed him," Katherine stated to him.

"Someone's dead?" Belle asked.

"Yeah. Hopper," she informed Belle.

"Why on earth would you think I'd have anything to do with that?" Rumple asked her.

"Because all the evidence points to Regina."

"And she's not possibly capable of doing something so vile," Belle said, and went to stand by Rumple.

"And it's a frame job," Katherine said.

"It wouldn't be the first time you've used someone to try and hurt her," Snow reminded him.

"It's nice to see that your memory's still intact dearie, but this time I'm going to have to disappoint you," Rumple told Snow. "It wasn't me."

"Why should we believe you?" Charming asked.

"Because I can prove it," Rumple replied.

When he told him where he was, Katherine said, "No one was there."

"Well, that's not entirely true."

Charming brought out Pongo on a leash.

Rumple knelt down and Pongo came to him.

"That's a good boy."

Belle watched them.

"I didn't know you were such a dog person."

"A long time ago in another life," Rumple informed her. "I got to know a sheep dog or two."

"That's fascinating, but unless you speak dog, how's Pongo going to tell us anything?" Katherine questioned.

"Through magic, of course," Rumple told her. "It won't allow us to communicate, but it will allow us to extract his memories."

Rumple got to his feet.

"Extract?" Charming questioned.

"You don't have to worry. He won't feel a thing," Rumple assured him.

"Why should we trust you?" Katherine countered. "You could just as easily use magic to fool us."

"Because I'm not the one that's going to be using magic. You are."

"Me?" she inquired.

"You have it in you. Told me so yourself," he said, going to a cupboard.

"Katherine, you don't have to do this," Snow assured her.

"If it tells us something about Archie's death, then so be it."

Rumple brought something out and walked towards her.

"Do you know what this is?"

"A dreamcatcher."

"Well, it's capable of catching so much more," he informed her.

After seeing through the dreamcatcher, the events of Archie's death, they all left and went to see Regina.

After Katherine accused her of killing him, Regina magically through her away from her and then disappeared.

Later, Katherine informed Henry of what had happened, as Regina watched from her car across the street.

That night, Cora returned to the dock, satisfied that she'd broken her daughter's heart. She informed Hook that she left someone in the cargo of his ship and showed him Doctor Harper, telling Hook that he was the key to all of the secrets of Storybrooke, including Rumpelstiltskin's.

 **Ch.33: The Outsider**

After doing an experiment on the town line the night before, Rumple found out that by putting a potion on an object that he held dear, he could leave town to go find Bae, his only son.

The next day, Rumple informed Belle. When she offered to come with, he had to decline because he only had enough of the potion for one object; the shawl Bae used to wear.

Meanwhile, Hook was trying to get Hopper to talk about what Rumple's weakness was, other than the dagger, though Hopper didn't know anything of a dagger.

After further questioning, Hook found out about Belle, so he left his ship to go find her.

Belle entered the library and was about to put a book back on the shelf, when she saw someone in a corner, whom seemed to be reading a book.

"I'm sorry. The library isn't open yet," she told him.

"Well, I'm not here for the books, luv." He layed the book in his hand on top of other books on a nearby shelf. He then looked at her.

She looked back at him and suddenly remembered him.

"You. You're the one that broke into my cell at the queen's palace."

He gave a smile and she ran to the other side of the library.

He followed and they now had only two carts of books separating them.

"You wanted to kill Rumpelstiltskin."

"I still do," he informed her. "but right now, I'll settle for you."

He walked around a cart of books and she shoved the cart of books she'd been standing behind, and it fell on top of him. She then took the advantage and opened the elevator and got in for safety.

Hook ran towards the elevator, but was too late. It closed, before he could get to her.

Once in the elevator, Belle called Rumple to inform him of the situation, and once she'd told him everything, they hung up and Rumple left his shop to get to the library.

When Rumple got to the library, he opened the elevator and she came out.

Since she didn't see him, she asked Rumple where he was.

"I don't know, but you have nothing to fear. I'm here now," Rumple assured her. They then hugged.

Henry was at the Charmings' place, thinking, when Katherine came in with a plate.

"You hungry?" she questioned him. "I managed to wrangle up a pop tart."

"No, thanks," he replied.

Katherine set the plate on the bed by where he sat, and joined Snow whom was waiting for her.

"Well, that went well," Kat said sarcastically.

"You're doing all you can do," Snow assured her.

LeRoy approached.

"Ladies? Dwarfs have been thinking. When do we go back?"

"Back? Where?" Kat asked, though she guessed where.

"The Enchanted forest. Our home."

"You wanna go back?" Snow inquired.

"I fought really hard to get here," Katherine reminded him.

"Yeah, but with what Regina did to Archie, Storybrooke isn't as safe as we thought."

"We're gonna find her. There's only so many places she can hide."

"We dealt with her before. We'll do it again," Snow assured him.

"It's not just her. The curse is broken. There's a whole world beyond the town line that don't know who or what we are. Ever think of what might happen if one of them were to pay us a visit?"

"He's right. What if they see, you know, magic?" Ruby interjected, from where she stood by the counter in the kitchen. "Like a girl turning into a wolf, for example. Folks weren't exactly understanding back in our world."

"Let's not worry about what ifs," Kat reasoned. "No one is here, apart from me."

"Yet," LeRoy added. "Maybe they come. Maybe they don't. We're a bit homesick."

Katherine was silent, knowing a little of what they were feeling.

Rumple was walking through town, Belle following at his side.

"Where are you going?" Belle asked him.

"The shop."

"Why?"

"Well, let's just say that there are many things in there that I can use to make sure that pirate never comes near you again."

"Rumple, no. We need to report this to the sheriff. They'll take care of him," Belle reasoned. "Please don't let your hatred for this man get away with you leaving town to find your son."

"Belle, he tried to harm you," he countered.

"But why? What happened between you two?"

"Belle, this is really not your concern."

"He attacked me. It definitely is my concern."

He stopped walking, as did Belle.

"Many years ago, I was married to a woman by the name of Mila, until Hook crossed her path," he informed her.

"She was Balefire's mother," she stated.

"Yeah, and because of that, he grew up without her. He took my wife; he took Bae's mother. So I took his hand."

Rumple began to cross the street.

"That's why he came after me," she realized, walking beside Rumple. "But what about her? What did he do?"

They now stood in front of each other in front of his shop.

"Rumple, you can tell me anything," she said, a hand on top of his.

"She died. That's all that matters."

They entered his shop, only to see it in a shambles, things all over the place, some of the glass counters broken.

"What happened?" Belle asked.

"Hook. That's why he attacked you."

"To get you out of the store," Belle assumed. "What did he want?"

Rumple went straight to his safe, figuring out what Hook was probably after.

Hook stood on a rooftop, looking at them, seeing them by a window.

Mr. Smee came to stand by Hook and gave him Bae's shawl.

"What is it, Captain?"

"The end of the Crocodile's hope," Hook answered. "Now he's trapped here."

Upon finding Bae's shawl missing, Rumple realized that Hook had taken it, so, in anger, he began using his cane to hit things.

"Rumple," Belle said. "Rumple, stop it! Stop."

He stopped and she went to his side.

"Please," Belle added.

"You're right. I have to retrieve what's mine," he said, and began to go for the door.

"Let me. Let me help you," she said, standing in front of him.

"This is my fight!"

"And this is my fault," she said back. "If Hook wouldn't have attacked me, you would've never left the shop."

"How do you suppose we get his shawl back? Have you dueled with a pirate before? How exactly are you going to help me?"

"Well, I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing!" she yelled at him.

"No. You're going to go back to the library, lock the door, and wait for me to dispense of this problem."

"And if I don't? You're going to cast some spell that gives me no choice?" she countered.

"No," he assured her. "I trust you'll do as I wish. As you trust me to be a better man. Belle, Please. Hook may have cost me the chance of maybe finding my son. I don't want to lose you, too."

She was silent.

He walked behind a nearby counter.

"Look, I want you to take this, just in case Hook is stupid enough to come after you again."

He pulled out a small gun and approached her.

"Point this, pull this trigger, and the gun will do the rest for you," he instructed her. "Alright?"

She nodded her head.

"Alright?"

"Yes. Yes," she answered.

She took the gun and he began to go for the door.

She went behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait. Promise me, you going after Hook is just about you getting the shawl back."

He just looked at her silently, for a moment, knowing he couldn't promise her that. Then he left the shop.

Belle found a piece of rope, when she was putting books back, and after finding out what it came from, she left to go find the ship herself, not realizing the danger of doing this alone.

While she left the library, Rumple found Smee, knowing that he'd been the one to ransack his shop, and after interrogation, turned him into the mouse he really was.

When she got to the dock, she didn't see it.

"Where is it?" she asked herself.

Once she found the ship that was cloaked from prying eyes and went onboard to find the shawl, she found Archie and got him loose and told him to go, just as she heard as if someone was on deck, walking around.

Charming and Snow were doing dishes, while Henry was still sitting on his bed.

Katherine walked in with Pongo, having decided to have Pongo be Henry's dog. She may not have ever been a mother before, but she knew enough to know that kids going through certain things needed an animal for company. She figured a dog was what Henry needed to cheer him up.

After Henry left to take Pongo outside, Charming and Snow said it was a good idea, but that it would get a little crowded with four people and a Dalmatian all in the same loft. Snow then suggested that she and Charming move out.

Belle was still in the room looking around for Rumple's shawl, when Hook walked in, learning against the threshold of the door, shawl in hand.

"Looking for this?"

Belle turned around to see him.

"Uh, that doesn't belong to you."

"Oh, it does now," he replied.

She went for the gun, but he grabbed it first and, after looking it over to figure out how to use it, he pointed it at her.

"My dear Belle. You should've stayed with your books. Real life can get a bit messy."

"I'm not afraid of you. And I'm not leaving without that."

"Well, I admire the loyalty, but I'm afraid you're fighting a lost cause."

He set the shawl down on the counter.

"He needs that shawl to find his son."

"What makes you think his son wants to be found?" Hook inquired of her. "I'm doing that boy a favor."

"Have you not hurt Rumple enough?" she quizzed him.

"Oh, I've hurt him?"

"You stole his wife."

He stood just inches in front of her.

"Let me tell you something, luv. When a woman comes to you; begs you to take her away, is that theft?"

"Why would she leave him?" she wanted to know.

"Because he was a coward. And because she loved me." He went to stand at the counter and looked at the shawl. "I should've burned this the moment I required it."

"Why didn't you?" she wanted to know.

"Because she made it."

"I'm sorry she died, but vengeance? Vengeance won't bring her back."

"Died? Like it was some sort of accident. Is that what he told you?"

"Well, he didn't say," she informed him.

"Well, of course not. Of course he'd leave out the most important detail of her passing."

He stood just inches in front of her.

"And what would that be?" she asked.

"He killed her. He ripped out her heart. And he crushed it right in front of me."

She shook her head.

"No."

"Oh, yes." He put the gun under her chin. "He would do anything. Anything to hold onto his power. Why do you think anyone who's ever gotten close either run away or have been killed?"

She went to the other side of the room and he cocked the gun, aiming it at her.

"Now, what makes you think you're any different? Tell me something, darling, why would you want to fight for a man like that?"

"Because I still see good in him. Because I believe he's changed. Because his heart is true. And yours? Yours is rotten," she replied.

She pulled on something that was on the roof and Hook fell into the place that he'd been keeping Hopper at.

She went up on the deck with shawl in hand, and Hook stood in front of her.

"How did you…?"

"I know my ship by the back of, well, you know," he said, gesturing to his hooked hand. "I suggest you give that back to me now."

"Or what?" Rumple questioned, having just arrived on the ship.

Hook turned around to see The Dark One.

Hook approached.

"You look different in this world, Crocodile. Like the coward I met so long ago, limp and all."

"Yet, you still can't kill me."

"That's right, Dark One. What magic are you going to hide behind today?"

Rumple scoffed.

"Oh, no, no. Not magic." Rumple used his cane to hit Hook.

Hook fell to the deck in pain.

Rumple continued to hit him with it.

"Rumple, let's go. Let's go," Belle reasoned, not wanting him to do this. "Let's go."

"Not yet, Belle," Rumple replied.

"This. This is what you came for. This is what's going to get you back to Balefire," she said, holding the shawl.

"You're wasting your breath, luv. He can't resist. He has to prove that he's not a coward," Hook told her.

"You might want to turn away, Belle. This isn't going to be pretty," Rumple warned, before hitting Hook again.

"Do it. Kill me," Hook mocked him. Then he told Belle, "He has to show you how powerful he is."

"Rumple, this is what he wants," she reasoned. "To destroy everything good in you."

Rumple stopped and he and Belle looked at each other.

"Rip my heart out," Hook mocked. "Kill me like you did Mila. And then I'll finally be reunited with her."

Rumple tossed his cane to the deck.

"He has to die, Belle."

He was about to rip his heart out, when she said, "No, he doesn't. There's still good in you. I see it. I've always seen it. Please. Please, show me I'm not wrong."

Rumple looked at her and then at Hook.

"You take your ship and sail until you fall off the face of the earth. I never want to see you again."

Rumple got to his feet and grabbed his cane.

"Let's go."

Belle took his hand and they left.

Snow and Charming were looking at pieces of papers that showed houses, but Charming didn't like the house she picked out.

"Are you going to say that about every house we look at?" she asked.

"I grew up on a farm," he reminded her, taking a sip of his drink.

"This isn't about the house, is it?"

He informed her that maybe they should go back to the Enchanted forest to fix things, now that Cora was in power over there, but Snow wanted to stay in town since she was tired of fighting. She'd been fighting all her life. She wanted a break from that.

Henry and Kat were at home, when there was a knock on the door and Pongo immediately went to the door, whining, and Kat opened the door.

Archie walked in and told them that Cora kidnapped him.

Henry suggested that they tell Regina that they were wrong, now that they knew the real truth.

"Something tells me either way, we're gonna pay the price," Kat voiced aloud.

Rumple parked the car by the town line, Belle with him.

After using the potion on the shawl and after she put it around his neck, he stepped over the town line. He was about to go, but then Hook arrived with a gun in hand, aiming it at Belle.

Before Hook could shoot her though, he got ran over by a black car.

Rumple and Belle got out of the way, just in time.

 **Ch.34: In The Name of The Brother**

Katherine arrived at the scene to see a car that had crashed into a tree that had California plates, as well as Hook on the ground. The way he looked, she assumed he'd been hit by the car. She also saw Belle and Rumple there. Knowing Hook as little as she did, she assumed that Hook had been out for vengeance, when he'd gotten ran over.

She went over and knelt by him.

"Hey, beautiful," he greeted through the pain. "I didn't think you'd notice."

"You've got some broken ribs," she informed him.

"That must be why it hurts so much," he replied.

The paramedics arrived and she informed them that someone was in the car and that Hook could wait. She didn't think broken ribs would kill him.

Whale was in his office, having a shot glass of something to drink, remembering his past as Frankenstein, when he was called into the ER.

When Hook woke up, he was in a hospital bed, Katherine in the room, obviously having been waiting for him to wake up.

"Where's Cora?" she asked him, since they'd recently found out that Cora was in town.

"What?" He looked to see handcuffs on his wrist.

She went to stand at his bedside.

"Where's Cora?" she repeated.

"Always Cora in a commanding voice," he replied.

"You have a lot of sore places where I can make you hurt," she threatened him.

He gave a smile at that.

She applied a little pressure to a rib.

"I have no clue where Cora is. She has her own agenda. That's something I'm not interested in. There is something I'm interested in, though. My hook. May I have it back? Or is there another attachment you prefer?"

"You're offer chipper for a guy who failed to kill his enemy. Then got hit by a car."

"Well, my ego may be a little broken, but everything else is still intact."

"Maybe so, but you're chained to a bed and he's immortal, has magic, and you tried to hurt his girl. If I were to pick dead guy of the year, I'd pick you."

Snow, Charming, and Ruby were in the hallway, trying to figure out the pass code on the guy's phone, whom had ran Hook over.

Katherine came up and took the phone and plugged a chip thing into the phone, which helped gain access to the phone. When she looked though, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about the guy she found to be Greg.

Everyone began arguing and had a bad feeling, since whatever had kept people out of Storybrooke for twenty-eight years was gone. They all knew that anyone could just come in now.

Whale came out and told them that Greg was in very bad condition. Then he asked Rumple to save him, but Rumple refused to do so and left.

Katherine still had the phone in hand, when someone started calling Greg, and everyone realized that someone was already looking for Greg.

Rumple was at his shop, when he got a visit from Cora.

"Hello, Rumple," she greeted him.

"Well, I expected it would be only a matter of time. I hoped you were dead, but hey, disappointment is just a part of life. I'm sure we can agree on that."

"Aww, the Crocodile snaps at the little bird. And after I brought you a gift."

"Did you bring the antidote too?"

"Oh, Rumple. It's a peace offering."

"And what do you want? For this uh, peace offering."

"My daughter. You were so clever to get her to cast the curse so you could come here. You don't need her anymore. Let me try to get her back. And let us live."

"And what do I get for my troubles?"

"Your son."

He gave her a look and then turned around and opened the box, which held a big white earth ball.

"You know what that is, of course," Cora said.

"It'll find him," he stated. "If this ball truly is it," he added, turning around to look at her.

"Oh, totally. I have no reason to cheat you."

"Anymore."

"I want you to find the one person who may still love you. After all, I'm doing the same thing. So, will you accept my offer of the truth?"

"Truce," he said.

They shook hands.

When a doctor told them that Whale never showed up to the surgery room, they went in search of him.

In the meantime, Whale was running through town.

Cora looking like Henry, went to Regina's vault, assuming where his mother might be, and found her hiding place below a casket.

Regina revealed the hiding place and let who she thought was Henry, in.

They hugged.

"Henry, I'm so glad you're here." She pulled away and looked at whom she thought was Henry. "I missed you so much when I…I want you to know that I had nothing to do with Archie."

"I know. I always knew."

"I was framed. I don't know how. It just seems like everything…You knew. How did you know?"

"Simple." Cora turned back into herself. "Because I did it."

"Mother," Regina stated. She began to back off a little. "You. I thought we stopped you. How did you get through?"

"I had to see you," she replied. "I needed to tell you that I know why you sent me through the looking glass. And I know why you tried to have me be killed. And it's…it's alright."

"I think it's not alright," Regina countered.

"I love you. I just…I've always shown it in all the wrong ways. And I never should've made you marry the king. I'm so sorry. When you cried over my coffin, it all changed."

"You framed me," Regina reminded her. "For the cricket."

"Temporarily. So you could see what these people really think of you."

"You made an air-tight case. Anyone would believe it."

"I didn't want you to reject me. Not again," Cora reasoned.

"You wanted me broken," Regina replied, knowing it all too well.

"Perceptive."

"You are the most manipulative…No. I won't even argue." She walked around her and towards the invisible door. "Come with me. We're going to town."

"It's the middle of the night," Cora reasoned.

"I don't care. We'll wake them up; Katherine and Henry and the two idiots, and you can tell them how you lied. You owe me that."

"And then you'll let us start over?"

"I don't see that happening, mother. But I am, I was, trying so hard to be worthy of Henry. And I deserve the same thing from you."

"You're right. For you, sweetheart. Anything."

After a while, Ruby finally found Whale at the docks, a watch in hand, looking at the water.

"Don't come near me!" he said, when Ruby called his name. He dropped the watch in the water and jumped, but Ruby was quick and grabbed him, stopping him from hitting the water.

Ruby and Whale sat on a bench and he told her everything. Ruby then tried to reason with him that he could and should start over.

Regina was driving with Cora in the passenger seat, when Cora pulled out something she'd stolen from Regina's place. It was a hand print Henry had made when he'd been a lot younger.

"When were you in my house?" Regina questioned, mad at her for being there.

"Oh, I haven't had the pleasure," she lied.

"That was in my house. You don't think I know where that was? It's one of my most treasured possessions."

After a little conversation, Cora promised that they'd get Henry back and they had a moment.

Later, Whale succeeded and said that Greg would live. He was even waking up.

Katherine entered the hospital room.

"Nurse?" he questioned her.

"Sheriff. Katherine Pierce, actually," she introduced.

"Thirsty," he told her.

She poured him a cup of water and handed it to him. She then put his stuff that was in a zipbloc bag on the table by him.

"So, Mr. Mendel, I wanted to talk to you about the accident."

"Did I hit somebody? Oh, my God. I hit someone. Is he okay?"

"Don't worry about him. The damage was pretty minor."

"Oh, thank God."

"But I do need you to state what happened. In your own words. What you did. What you saw."

"What? I didn't see anything," he denied.

"Come on. You were driving."

"Yeah, but…I saw the road, of course."

"I just think I might be able to put your mind at ease."

"I was texting," he told her. "I looked down, just for a second, and when I looked up, he was right there, and he was too close to avoid. I know it's not legal in Maine."

"It's okay," she assured him. "I'm just glad you were honest with me."

"So, no charges?"

"No. No charges. I will let you go with a warning this time."

"Thank you," he replied. "So, when, when can I head home?"

"As soon as the doctor clears you. We don't want to keep you."

Katherine left the room and he sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, Rumple found out where Bae was by using the globe Cora had gifted him with.

Henry came down the stairs, asking what happened, due to the fact that they had all been out all night.

They informed him and he told them that since Frankenstein isn't in his book, it's from a different land; a land of different stories that aren't even fairytales.

There was a knock on the door and Katherine approached. Before she could open it, Gold opened the door.

"Remember that favor you owe me, miss Pierce?"

"Of course."

"I'm cashing it in. You do honor your agreements, don't you?" he added, seeing that she didn't want to help him right now.

Charming went to stand by her.

Henry went to stand between Katherine and Charming.

"I need to find someone," Rumple told them. "So, we're leaving today. Pack a bag."

Snow went over to where they were.

"Leaving?"

"Where?" Henry asked.

"Wait. Find someone? Who?" Katherine inquired.

"My son. It has to be today, because every minute I'm here, is another minute I'm closer to killing Hook. So, it's really on your best concern if I leave, and you're going to come with me. Oh, and we have a long history, so know this and know it to be true. If any harm comes to Belle while I'm gone, I'm killing all of you. I'll see you at noon."

Rumple left.

Meanwhile, Greg called the person that had been trying to reach him and told her everything that had happened, and that he'd seen magic.

 **Ch.35: Tiny**

It was a beautiful day, as Katherine answered the door, when Rumple used his cane to knock on the door.

"Are you ready, miss Pierce?" he asked.

"Almost," Katherine said, and packed a few other things into a bag that was on the floor.

Henry went to stand behind her close by.

"Do you think it'll be cold where we're going or warm?" he asked her.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to bundle up. You never know the weather in New York," she replied, having been in New York a long time ago.

"I thought the terms of our agreement were clear. You owe me a favor. You alone," Rumple reminded her.

"I'm not leaving him here with Cora running about, so we both go or we both stay," she replied stubbornly.

After a moment of consideration, Rumple looked at Henry and then back at Katherine.

"Then we'll have to purchase another plane ticket. Won't we?"

"Wait. We're flying?" she inquired of him.

"Don't worry. I'm covering the expenses. Even the new ones," he assured her.

"You're very generous, aren't you?" Charming commented, as he came down the stairs. He then handed Katherine a small duffel bag and turned to Rumple. "Alright, Gold. You're going out there with Katherine and Henry. If anything happens to them—," he began, but Rumple cut him off.

"Then you'll what? Cross the town line? And David Nolan will hunt me down in his animal rescue van?"

"This isn't a threat. This is a request," Charming clarified for him. "Take care of them."

"I promise no harm will come to them," Rumple assured him. "After all, we have a deal."

Soon after packing, Katherine was in the passenger seat of Rumple's car, Henry in the back. The potion on the shawl worked and he drove them out of town.

"We're going to find my son," Rumple said, after clarifying to Katherine that it had worked; that he remembered and knew who he was.

Charming was finishing up putting his gun holster on, as Snow watched him.

"You like that holster, don't you?"

He chuckled at that.

"I miss carrying a sword."

"Well, it looks good on you," she complimented.

"Come on. Leroy has the dwarfs on Cora watch. I've got eyes everywhere, but they could use our help."

Charming helped her put on her coat.

"Really? How hard can it be to find a powerful sorceress in a small town?" Snow asked.

Regina was about to knock on the door, when the door opened to reveal Charming and Snow.

"Apparently, not very hard," Charming said to Snow's question, seeing Regina.

"Regina. You're back," Snow said.

"I know you think I'm responsible for poor Doctor Hopper's death—," she began.

"He's alive," Charming informed her.

"What?" Regina questioned, surprised.

"You were framed," Snow said.

"Who would do that?" Regina asked.

"Your mother. She's here," Snow informed her, not knowing that Regina already knew that Cora was in town.

"But that's—that's not possible."

"When Katherine found a way back with Hook, so did she," Snow informed her. "We were wrong and we're so sorry."

"I know. But if Cora's here, then we're all in danger. Please. You have to let me see my son. I can protect him," Regina replied.

"He's not here," Snow informed her.

"What?" Regina asked.

"Mr. Gold asked Katherine to help him find his son. He left town about an hour ago with Henry," Charming informed her.

"And no one told me," Regina stated.

"We didn't know where you were," Snow reminded her. "And to be honest, I don't think Katherine has to run anything by you."

"No. I suppose she doesn't," Regina replied, before turning around and walking away.

Snow closed the door and Charming sighed.

"That went well," Snow stated.

"For her, it doesn't get much better," Charming replied. "Come on. Let's go find Cora."

"Where?"

"No idea, but I know who to ask," Charming replied, as he handed Snow her set of arrows and bow.

Hook limped through the dock so he could show them where Cora might be at.

"You didn't even ask me about my recovery," Hook stated.

"How are you feeling, Hook?" Snow questioned, playing along.

"Come closer and you'll feel for yourself," he replied.

"You wanna lose the other hand?" Charming intervened. "Where's the ship? Come on. Archie told us all about it. It's shielded somehow, isn't it, mate?" He added the mate part just for Hook.

Hook looked at him.

"Aye. That it is. Follow me. I don't know what you expect to find. Cora won't be there."

"Well, maybe she left something behind that'll tell us where she went. Let's go," Charming said, and gave him a little push.

"No funny business," Leroy added in. "I'm watching you, pirate."

Soon, Hook went aboard his ship and they followed.

"What do you know about Cora's plans?" Charming asked him.

"Cora's not the most communicative of lasses. I will tell you one thing. Whatever malice she has in mind, her weapon of choice is in here," he informed him, and patted something that was covered with a blanket.

When Charming and Leroy took it off, it was a cage with the giant that had been at the top of the beanstalk Hook and Katherine had climbed together. The giant wasn't as big as he used to be though. Now he was the size of a normal human.

"So Cora used magic to make him travel sized," Leroy commented.

"Whatever she intends to do with him, it's important," Hook replied.

"I think you know what exactly she intends," Charming said. "You're holding out."

"What? You'll have your lovely wife have it tortured out of me? I promise it'll be fun for both—" Hook began.

Charming grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against something that had a blanket over it.

"Why don't you and I have some fun?" Charming said.

"I don't know what she's planning. Why don't you wake the bloody giant and ask him yourself?" Hook replied, and held out a key.

Snow took the key and unlocked the crate. She then rested a hand on his arm, which woke him up.

"Hey. It's alright," she assured him. "You're safe now. What's your name?"

"Anton," he answered her, as he got out of the cage. "Where's that witch?"

"She's gone," Snow assured him.

"What did she do? She made me small."

"Come on. Let's get you out of here," Charming said.

"You," Anton said, recognizing him.

"Me?" Charming questioned.

Anton through him and then Leroy across the ship.

Snow fired an arrow, which made Anton turn to her.

"Step away from my husband," she said nicely.

Anton looked around.

"You may have me outnumbered, but this isn't over. You think I forgot what you did? I didn't. You'll pay for your evil. I promise. You'll pay," he said, before leaving the ship.

Leroy, Snow, and Charming were sitting at a booth at Granny's.

"David, did that giant just say he'll make you pay?" Snow questioned. "For what?"

"I have no idea. I've never even seen that guy before."

"Well he sure knows you," Leroy commented.

"No. It's not about me," Charming said. "He just thinks it is," he added after a moment. He realized that the giant thought Charming was James.

Meanwhile, Katherine was at the airport with Rumple and Henry.

When Henry kept pestering Rumple with questions, Rumple told him, "I'm fine, Henry," though his questions were irritating him.

Katherine noticed that Rumple didn't want to talk, so she told him, "Why don't we talk about this later, kid?"

Soon, they were through the airport and ready to catch their plane.

Hook stood in an alley after laying a card down, waiting for someone. When he felt a presence, he turned around.

"Regina."

"Expecting my mother?" she inquired. "The one you were supposed to kill?"

"Oh, that. Well, I didn't want to deprive you of a happy reunion."

"Well, it's your lucky day. She and I have made amends," she replied.

"You're here to thank me?" he questioned. "How sweet."

"She wants to know if they found the ship."

"Why doesn't she just ask me herself?"

"She decided it wouldn't be proven for her to be out and about," Regina informed him.

"Well, then it is my lucky day. You can tell her that they found the ship."

"And did you get her things off it?"

"I've been tied up in bed," he replied. "Not in a good way."

"She needs her things."

"Well, I bet she does. That's good news then. A giant got loose from the hold."

"You lost a giant?" Regina questioned.

"Well, a shrunken giant."

"How is that good news?"

"Because when he got free, he took one look at the prince and became extremely murderous."

"The giant in town wants to kill the prince," she realized. "This is just the distraction we need."

"That is it, dear," he agreed.

After Regina gave him a potion to make him a giant again, Snow and Charming had a chat with Anton and informed him that the person that ruined his life was Charming's twin brother and they spoke of Katherine whom had gotten the compass from him. The giant wanted to speak to her, but she was out of town, so the giant called them liars and thieves and such.

Later, the spell wore off so he was human sized again and he informed them that he had a stem from a beanstalk and if they planted it in town, they could have a way to get back home.

That night, after the stem was planted, Charming and Snow had a talk in the truck.

When Charming said that they could go home after the beans grew, she told him, "I don't know."

"What don't you know?" he asked.

"Home is where our family is. And that's here. I don't know if Katherine will come with us and she's like family now."

"You're worried about her."

"Aren't you?" she inquired.

"Of course, but Katherine can take care of herself, and I'm sure wherever she and Henry are, they're safe."

Meanwhile, Katherine was in the middle seat with Henry by the window and Rumple on the other side of her.

She looked at Rumple whom kept looking around. She assumed that he was checking for any potential threats or that he was nervous about meeting his son after so many years. She could relate, after all. She'd been half way in his shoes before. She'd always been looking out for danger and when she'd met her daughter, part of her had been happy but the other part of her wasn't sure how to act.

"It's going to be okay," she assured Rumple. "We're going to find your son."

"I know," he replied, looking ahead instead of all around or at her.

A moment later, the plane began its take off. 

**Ch.36: Manhattan**

It was a rainy day as Rumple, Katherine, and Henry arrived at their destination and headed into the building.

Regina and Cora were in a room at Regina's place, Regina telling Cora that Katherine had taken Henry with her.

When Cora was assuring Regina that when Gold was done with whatever it was that he was doing, Gold would be back with Henry and Katherine, Hook appeared in the doorway.

"Back? Back from where? Where has Rumpelstiltskin gone?" he asked.

"I don't know," Regina replied, looking over at him.

"Well, if he's left town, he's powerless. He could be killed."

"The moment either of us leave, we lose our magic," Cora reminded him. "And our advantage."

"Your memories?" he asked.

"None of us were victims of the curse," Regina told him. "It's not about memories. It's about magic."

"Well, I don't need magic," Hook replied.

Regina stood up.

"Even if you could find him, you really think you can just walk up to him and stab him with your sword?"

"Well, I prefer my hook, but I can't find that now."

"You're not going anywhere," Cora told him.

"I deserve my vengeance," Hook replied.

Cora went to stand by Regina.

"You're right. You do. And with The Dark One gone, we can search for the one magical object that can actually kill him here. His dagger."

When Rumple, Henry, and Katherine were trying to figure out which apartment was Rumple's son, someone started running, so Katherine figured out that the person running was probably Rumple's son. Since Rumple couldn't run, he asked Katherine to catch him.

After a few minutes, she caught him.

After asking if he was Rumple's son, she and Bae went to a bar to talk.

Afterward, she got up and told him, "Come on. I made a deal with your father that I'd bring you to him."

"You made a deal with him?" he asked her.

"Yeah. And I'm holding up my end," she replied.

"You don't have to. You know that, right?"

"I know."

"Then tell him that you lost me. Tell him that you couldn't find me."

"I'm sorry. I can't do that," she replied. "Look, I know you don't know me, so let me tell you something. I may not know what it's like to have Rumple as a father, but I do know what it's like to not have the greatest father. I also know that if I could have one chance to be with my mother and my daughter again, then I'd take that chance. Whatever he did in the past, it's in the past, even if you can't forgive him for it. I know how hard it is to forgive someone for awful deeds, but I eventually forgave a certain someone who killed my parents. You fairytale characters aren't the only ones with more than one lifetime experience. I grew up in a time when everywhere you went were villages instead of towns and horses and carriages instead of cars. Meeting Klaus may have destroyed my life and put me on a dark path, but being reunited with my daughter was the best thing that ever happened to me, even if it was only for a short while. I'd do anything to be in your shoes right now. You have the chance to be reunited with your father. You may not want to be, but maybe it'll be good for your father. Maybe he'll change like I did when I was reunited with my daughter."

She headed for the door.

After considering it, Neal went with her to meet up with his father.

Meanwhile, Regina and Cora were looking for the dagger. Hook wanted to come with, but Cora used magic on Hook, making him land by a bookshelf. Then she and Regina left the library to find it.

Soon, Rumple and Neal met up and that's when they all found out that Henry was Neal's son.

While Neal and Henry were talking, Rumple was remembering when he'd had a run in with a Seer whom had said that there'd be a boy that would lead him to his son, but the boy would be his undoing.

 **Ch.37: The Queen Is Dead**

When Snow came downstairs she saw Charming cooking breakfast and then she saw a birthday present on the table, so she opened it. It was revealed to be the crown that had once been her mother's. The card said that it was from Johanna whom had been one of her mother's close friends whom had tried to help when her mother had gotten sick.

After receiving the present, she left to go find Johanna.

Charming entered the police station and put his coat on the hanger, only to get knocked out by Hook with a crow bar.

"Apologies, mate. I believe you have something of mine," Hook said after knocking him out. Then he went looking around and soon found his hook and put the hook back on. Then he left the station.

When Snow met up with Johanna, she told her that she found the crown in Gold's shop and knew Snow had to have it. She also said that the flowers in the field that she was working on, reminded her of Snow because they could survive the harshest winters and Snow was born in the harshest winter of all.

When they heard something, Snow went to investigate and found Regina and Cora looking for the dagger. So Snow went to the station, only to find Charming knocked out.

When Charming woke up, he told her that it was Hook whom wanted his hook and Rumple. Then when he was sitting in the chair, she told Charming that Regina was working with Cora to find Rumple's dagger. Their idea was that Cora wanted it to either use it to control Rumple or use it to become The Dark One herself.

Neal and Henry went inside a pizza shop, while Katherine and Rumple stayed outside, knowing they weren't invited.

"The saddest truth is that the ones closest to us are capable of causing us the most pain," Rumple said. "Not so common ground, miss Pierce. My son and I have some way to go."

"I couldn't agree more," she replied.

"I need you to talk to him. Try and convince him to come back to Storybrooke with me."

"I can try, but it's hard to convince someone that you don't know much about," she replied.

When Neal and Henry went up to the apartment to get Henry's camera, Katherine and Rumple waited downstairs for them.

Suddenly, Katherine felt someone push her out of the way and saw Hook stab Rumple with his hook.

"Time's up, Crocodile. Tick tock. You took Mila, my love, my happiness. And for that I now take your life."

Katherine got up and, since she wasn't a fairytale character and had magic outside of Storybrooke because of that, she magically through Hook away from Rumple and knelt in front of Rumple whom was seated on the ground.

"Gold, you alright?" she asked.

Neal and Henry came down the stairs.

"What the hell happened?" Neal asked. He knelt by Katherine. "What's going on?"

"One of your dad's enemies found us," she told him.

"Hook," Neal said, before Katherine could tell him who he was.

"You know him?"

Neal didn't answer, since he was too worried about what Hook did to his father.

"Papa," he said, when he saw that he was bleeding a little.

Neal got Rumple on the couch in his apartment, while Katherine used rope to tie Hook to a chair in the apartment. It was the best she could do. It wasn't like there were any close by holding cells.

When she found a map on Hook, she pulled it out.

"Looks like Hook sailed his ship here," she said.

"How do you sail a pirate ship into New York?" he inquired.

"It's cloaked," she replied. She knelt down to eye level with Henry. "Don't worry. He won't hurt anyone else."

"But is Mr. Gold going to be okay?" Henry asked.

"Henry, he'll be fine," Neal said.

Katherine told Henry to go to the other room.

Rumple took his scarf off and with his jacket and shirt open a little, you could see that it was bad.

"We gotta get him to an ER," Neal said.

"It's pointless," Rumple said.

"What is that?" Katherine asked Rumple.

"Poison. It's Hook's making. There's no antidote here."

"There's gotta be some way we can save you," Neal said, not wanting him to die.

"There is," Rumple replied.

"Storybrooke. We gotta get him back. There's magic there now," she told Neal.

"I'll get a car," Neal said.

"No. We gotta take the ship."

Katherine realized why. She realized that he was saying that the ship was faster than a car somehow.

"Who's going to sail it? The only pirate here wants you dead. I could make Hook cooperate, but I'll have to wake him up first."

"I can do it," Neal informed her.

"Bae?" Rumple inquired.

"Yeah. I can do it."

"Then let's get going," Katherine said. "How do you know Hook, though?"

"Long story short. This world wasn't my first stop. If it was, I'd be a couple hundred years old by now."

In Storybrooke, Snow and Charming finally found Gold's dagger, only to be ambushed by Cora and Regina and Johanna died, even though Cora got the dagger from them.

Regina and Cora entered Regina's office.

Cora sat at Regina's desk and set the dagger down.

"I like what you've done to the place."

"So happy you approve," Regina replied.

"What is it, my love? You're troubled."

"You never told me about the history with Snow's mother."

"I spared you the burden like any good parent would do."

"You didn't think I deserved to know what it took for me to become queen?"

"Now you know," Cora said.

"That day at the stables. When I rescued her. That wasn't an accident, was it?" Regina replied, talking about the time when she'd saved Snow when she was a child whom couldn't get control of the horse she was riding. "You won, mother. I'm queen. If that's all you wanted, why do you need Rumpelstiltskin's dagger now?"

"You're worried my interests no longer align with yours," Cora realized.

"My only interest now is Henry."

"And I told you. You'll have him."

"But how? Now that Mary Margaret and David know we have the dagger, we can't use Gold to kill them without Henry finding out."

"Have patience, my love. By the time Rumpelstiltskin and Katherine Pierce arrive, they'll be nothing more than an unpleasant memory, and Henry will be yours."

Neal and Katherine found a car and Neal told her it was a friend's car. That's when some girl caught up with Neal and told him that he couldn't just say that he was leaving town for a while, and that he had to tell her what was going on.

"Neal," Katherine said.

The girl looked at Katherine.

"I'm Amara," she greeted.

"Katherine," she greeted back to the girl.

"My fiancée," Neal told her.

Snow and Charming were by Johanna's grave. After talking for a bit, swept up in grief, she didn't want anyone else to die. She had the thought that maybe to save lives, she had to change.

"Change how?" Charming asked.

"I'm going to kill Cora," Snow replied.

 **Ch.38: The Miller's Daughter**

It was a beautiful day, as they sailed the Jolly Roger to Storybrooke. Katherine was in the bunker talking to Rumple.

"I'm going to save your life," she said, after he'd explained to her about his dagger when she'd asked him about it.

"I'm not sure you should," Rumple replied.

Charming had just spoken to Katherine on the phone and was telling Snow that Katherine informed him that Rumple was quite injured, and it was poison.

While Charming was talking to Snow over the phone, Cora and Regina were listening in with a phone tap.

After Cora explained that he was more injured and that when he died, there'd be no more Dark One to take his place, she got the idea to stab him with the dagger and take his power as her own, but Regina rejected that, not wanting Henry to hate her if anything happened to him.

"The whole point of this was to, wait, what was the whole point of this?" she questioned.

"To protect our family," Cora stated.

"Or you gaining your power," Regina replied.

"Whatever power I gain is for us. To protect you. To protect Henry. If we lose this battle, we'll spend the rest of our short lives on our knees in front of them. And that my love is something that I'll never do," she replied, that last part she said, remembering a time when she'd been the Miller's daughter and had been tripped by Princess Aurora. She'd told the king that she'd tripped her which had caused her to spill the bags of flower, but instead the king had her kneel and apologize to the princess. That day had been an embarrassment and she never wanted to relive a day like that again.

Katherine soon returned to Storybrooke with Neal, Henry, and Rumple.

Charming helped Neal get Rumple in the back of the truck and then Rumple informed them that Cora would want to use his dagger to control him. Then Snow said that they had to kill Cora to protect everyone, but Charming disagreed with her, wanting to find another way to get rid of Cora.

Once they were at the shop, minus Henry whom was being looked after by Ruby, and had gotten him on the bed in the back of his shop, Rumple had her use the invisible chalk to make a line in front of the front door.

Neal watched her making the line and, trying to be a little humorous with her, said, "You missed a spot."

She stopped and looked at him.

"You're hilarious."

She went back to making the line.

"I didn't know you were magical. I've learned you're ambitious, daring, fearless, and you have a dark past, but I didn't realize you were magical."

"Are you being judgy?" she inquired. "I'm sure you've got a ton of secrets too, apart from being the son of Rumpelstiltskin."

Charming entered the front of the shop.

"We're all clear outside." When he saw that he had interrupted something, he asked, "Everything okay?"

"We're fine," Katherine replied and went back to making the line.

When Rumple told Snow to look in the cabin for a blanket, she saw a candle and took it out.

"Why do you have this?"

"For a rainy day," he replied.

"You're not getting any better, are you?" she realized.

"The candle can save me. There's nothing else."

"I wouldn't use this to save my own mother. What makes you think I would use it for you?"

"Because you're all grown up now. And for once, our interests are aligned," he replied.

"She dies, instead of you," Snow realized.

"I know you can do this. I know you wanna do this."

"There's no coming back from murder," Snow replied.

"There's no coming back from death, either," Rumple replied. "And that's what will happen to your loved ones."

"Even if I were to do this, the candle only works if you whisper the victim's name over them."

"Her heart will do," Rumple said.

"Cora's heart. It's not in her body."

"Use the candle. Curse her heart. And then, here comes the tricky part."

"That's not the tricky part?"

"You have to put the heart back inside Cora's body. She will die and I will live."

"There's another way. I get Cora's heart. I control her, get her to do the right thing, and you will die. Takes care of two evils at once."

Rumple chuckled. "I was just imagining Henry's face when he finds out you killed his grandpa."

Katherine entered the back of the shop.

"I drew the invisible line. I think. What now? You cast a protection spell?"

"No. You're gonna do it for me. I'm relying on you."

After some concentration, she succeeded in making a protection spell, but when Regina and Cora arrived, it wasn't enough and Cora and Regina were able to go inside.

While Katherine, Neal, and Charming faced off with them, Snow left the shop to do as Gold told her. Everyone except for Katherine, had a sword in hand. She knew that swords were useless against witches.

Katherine looked at her.

"Regina, think about what you're doing."

"Don't talk to me," Regina replied.

Regina brought out a fireball and Charming tried to fight her, but she threw him out of the shop and the door closed.

Cora had the dagger in her hand, as she stood by Regina.

Katherine magically took the dagger from her and then gave it to Neal, and told him, "Get back to Gold. I'll deal with them."

Neal did as told and she put up a protection shield for the back of the shop, this time making sure it was stronger. Then she looked at them.

"You don't know who you're messing with," Katherine said.

When Cora was ready to attack, Katherine magically through her against a wall.

Regina looked to where Cora landed and then back at Katherine.

"I may be new at using magic, but I'm a quick learner. I've dealt with witches for centuries. I know a lot about magic. I know it's connected with emotions and I've got a lot of them. Now, we can do this all day, or you can back down."

Regina didn't back down.

"I don't want to hurt you. We were becoming quite the friends, but you gotta do what you gotta do to protect those you care about. I think you already know this, but your mother is a bad influence on you."

She threw Regina whom landed behind one of the glass counters.

Cora got to her feet.

Katherine turned to face Cora.

"What's it gonna be?"

Cora approached and brought out a fireball.

"I don't back down from a good fight."

"Then I'll have to apologize for the discomfort. I've never actually done this, but it's worth a try. You need to be taught a lesson," Katherine said, before using magic to boil her blood. She knew it would eventually kill her, since she knew it eventually killed vampires too.

Regina got to her feet and Katherine turned to look at her.

"You don't want to mess with me. If you leave now, I'll let both of you live. If not, you live and your mother dies."

Katherine stopped boiling Cora's blood, but Cora was resilient and was ready to attack again.

Katherine began to magically choke Regina to get Cora's attention, though she really didn't want to harm Regina.

"Which will it be, Cora? You can choose to help your daughter, or you can choose a different path."

Cora didn't choose Regina and magically through Regina and Katherine both behind a glass counter.

Suddenly, Cora started to feel strange and knew exactly what was happening. Someone had her heart.

Regina got up and Cora told her to go find her heart, in which Regina did, just as Snow as leaving Regina's vault with it. After a conversation about whether Cora loved her or anything, Snow gave Cora's heart to her.

Katherine stood in Cora's way, but Cora magically poofed her into the woods.

Once Cora was in the back of the shop, she poofed Neal in the woods as well, and was about to kill Rumple, when Regina showed up and put her heart back into her body, only for Cora to die in her arms. It devastated Regina and she looked at Rumple, thinking that he'd cast a spell on Cora to kill her, but he admitted that he didn't do anything.

Rumple stood up, once he was healed and no longer dying.

Snow rushed into the back of the shop with Charming, her conscious telling her that it was wrong to do what she had done, but Snow realized that she was too late. Cora was already dead.

Regina looked at her.

"You did this."

Katherine went to the back of the shop and saw the scene. Even though Cora had been a bad person, she was still Regina's mother. She knew what Regina was going through.

"I think you two should probably get out of here. I'll see if I can talk to her," she told Charming and Snow.

Rumple left, too to leave them alone.

Katherine cautiously approached.

"I know Snow White did something that won't be forgiven any time soon. I know the feeling. A werewolf-vampire hybrid Klaus killed my mother too. It took me being on my deathbed to forgive him. It took 500 years for me to forgive Klaus for what he'd done, but I finally forgave him. I know what it's like to lose your mother, whether it be at the hands of evil or the hands of someone that's supposed to be a good person. I can help you if you'll let me."

Regina looked at her.

"I don't need your help."

Katherine could only watch as she disappeared in a purple cloud of smoke.

 **Ch.39: Selfless, Brave, and True**

When Katherine saw that Charming was going to give Snow breakfast in bed, she told him that they should really just be getting her out of bed, because Snow is the only one that can help herself get over what she did.

After she left with Henry to go to Granny's to meet up with Neal, Snow got out of bed and started to pack a small bag so she could go to the woods to think things through.

Katherine entered with Henry at Granny's. Henry went to get them a few hot cocoa's, while Katherine and Neal talked in his room. He informed her that his girlfriend was coming to town, which Katherine figured he hadn't told her anything about where he's really from or what really goes on in Storybrooke, so she gave him some advice.

"Take it from me. Tell her. Don't let her find out on her own. It's one thing to find out that vampires exist and then turn yourself into one to flee from a hybrid. It's another thing to learn that fairytales really exist and that you can't tell anyone from the outside world.

After shooting arrows at a tree, Snow found an old trailer, which August was inside. He was all wood, though he could move and everything. She wanted to help, but he told her to go and not tell anyone that she saw him.

After Henry and Katherine left so Katherine could drop him off at Rumple's, Neal showed Tamara the book and informed her that he was from The Enchanted Forest. She didn't seem to believe it though, and they had an argument before she left.

Greg was having a pie at Granny's, when Regina stopped by him.

"I hope you're enjoying your pie. It's on me. I'm Regina Mills. Mayor of Storybrooke." She sat across from him at the booth. "I'm also Henry's mother."

"Oh, he's the cute little kid that was wandering through the woods. Right?"

"Yes. I just wanted to thank you about calling me about him."

"Yeah. No sweat. I have a soft spot for little kids in trouble."

"I'm very certain we've never met before, but you do seem oddly familiar."

"I don't think that's possible unless you've spent a lot of time in Cardington, Pennsylvania."

"I can't say that I have. Well, if there's anything you need during your stay here, don't hesitate to ask." She got to her feet.

Later, Regina went to Greg's room and told him that she remembered who he is. He informed her that the reason why he was in town was to find his father.

Before Snow and the others could find August in the trailer, Tamara found him and offered him a deal to either leave town and save himself, or not. She wanted him out of town, so when he went to the station to let Katherine know over the phone, she cut the phone line and tried to kill him. The blue fairy was able to turn him back into a real boy again, though.

Tamara appeared and was a little surprised that he was alive again.

When Neal took a shower later, Tamara and Greg met up in Greg's room.

Greg closed the door and they began to make out.

 **Ch.40: Lacey**

After Snow and Charming showed Katherine, the beans they were growing, they informed her that they were growing them to return to their land, so they could restore their land. By doing so, they thought it would get rid of the part of Snow's heart that had become dark after what she'd done to Cora. After that, they left and Charming went to the diner to get some coffee for the dwarfs.

After Regina found out from Rumple that they were related, Regina went to find Katherine, whom was at the docks sitting on a bench, looking at the book.

"Reading up on Henry's father? Or grandfather?" she questioned, as she sat down by her. "How long did you think you could keep that from me?"

"Well, I was going to tell you, but I was a little busy keeping you and your mother from killing all of us."

"What is he doing here?" Regina wanted to know.

"Neal? He just wants to spend a little time with his son."

"Funny. He didn't want to spend time with him the first ten years of his life."

"How about you stop worrying about everyone else and instead focus on being the person Henry wants you to be. Before you lose him for good."

"For good? What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Unlike you, the rest of the world isn't always scheming to get what they want."

"You're hiding something," Regina said.

"I'm not. Look, there may come a time when Neal will want to go home back to New York and Henry might want to go with him. That's all I'm saying. Don't try to stop them if that happens. He doesn't need his mother all the time like he used to. Besides, I had a daughter once myself, even if I didn't get to raise her. You're lucky that you were able to raise Henry. Mine didn't even show up until she was grown up and a vampire, but whether I wanted to be her mother or not, I didn't make her do as I wanted her to. I let her make her own decisions, because she wasn't me. And Henry's not you. Let him make his own decisions, because if you try to make him do something he doesn't want to do, you'll just push him away."

Katherine got up and left Regina there.

That night, Regina found out about the beanstalk crops.

Later that night, Neal went to the Charming place with Henry. He layed him down on the couch since he'd had a couple Bourbons at the bar.

"Sounds like you two had fun," Katherine stated, when Neal told her.

She sat down at the table and talked to Neal about the message August gave her.

"Storybrooke isn't safe. From who?" she said.

"He always was good at being cryptic. You'll figure it out. If there's anything I've learned about you, it's that you don't stop until you find what you're looking for," he assured her.

That night, Tamara opened up the truck thing that was hooked up to the pickup truck, as she told Greg that he wouldn't need much convincing.

"Why's that?" Greg asked.

"Because if there's anyone you can count on to do your dirty work, it's a pirate."

When it was opened, it was revealed that Hook was tied up to a chair with rope and a gag on.

 **Ch.41: The Evil Queen**

After Tamara and Greg had a talk with Hook, telling and showing him at the clock tower that Rumple was alive, Hook agreed to help Greg find his father whom was taken by Regina a long time ago.

*Flashback*

It was a dismal night in the enchanted forest, as The Evil Queen and a few of her knights searched for Snow at a village that Snow had been hiding out in. She was gone though, which gave Regina the thought that maybe someone tipped her off. The villagers were even silent, as if they hadn't seen Snow in the village. They didn't even say anything when Regina offered them gold for telling her where Snow was at. So, when the search was unsuccessful and nobody was talking, she gave the order to kill them all.

*End*

*Present*

It was a dismal night at the docks, as Snow and Charming talked about leaving to go back to their homeland.

"If we're going back to the enchanted forest, are we really going to leave Regina behind?" Snow asked him.

"She's too dangerous to bring with us. We have to leave her," Charming replied.

"Henry won't like it. She is his mother, despite all the horrors."

"Mary Margaret, those horrors will continue. You want to give her another chance? Because every time we do, she—," he began, but Snow cut him off.

"She slips. I know. What do we do?"

"Instead of a second chance, we give her a choice. Come back, live out her days in Rumple's cell, or stay here."

While they were talking on the bench, they didn't notice a fisherman on a boat nearby, although it wasn't one at all. The fisherman left the boat and turned into Regina whom had been eavesdropping on them.

"Jail cell? I don't think so," she said to herself, concealed by a boat so they wouldn't see her.

The next day, Henry was putting some stuff inside one of the bird houses outside, when Regina stopped on the other side of the white picket fence.

"Good morning, Henry," she greeted him.

He stopped and looked at her.

"Um, what are you doing here?"

She went around the picket fence into the yard.

"I've missed you. And I wanted to show you something." She took out a bag that had magical beans inside. "Katherine and Mary Margaret have been keeping this from you, darling. They've been growing magic beans in secret. They want to take you to the enchanted forest. Without me."

"Maybe we're all going and they just haven't included you yet?"

"No. They won't let me to help. They don't see the good in me. The good you've seen. They only see the evil queen, which they named me. I don't want to be that anymore. This is my chance to go back and start over. For me to be the hero. You'd like that, right?"

"I'd love that," he replied.

"There's a fail-safe created inside the curse," she informed him.

"Like a self-destruct button, but you never used it," he figured. "What happens to Storybrooke?"

"It disappears. Forever," she informed him. "No need to worry, dear. We can get away first by using this."

"But what about everyone else?"

"They die."

"What?"

"I don't have any other choice. As long as there are other people in our lives, you can never fully be mine. You loved me once. With them gone, you'll love me again and you can see me for what I truly am. A hero."

"Not if you kill everyone. You're a villain," he replied.

"Me? They're the ones that have been keeping us apart. They're the villains."

"How can I love someone that can do such horrible things? Why would you even tell me this?"

"Because I don't have anyone else to talk to."

"Well, I'm gonna stop you."

"Everything I just said will come to pass."

"Never. Why would I let you do any of this?"

She took out a spell book from her purse, opened it, and looked at a page, and then looked at him again. "Because you won't remember a thing." She did a spell, put the spell book away, and then looked at him again.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" he asked her.

"I just came to say hello. I've missed you. Why don't you show me that bird feeder? It sure will make the birds really happy."

Regina was in her office, when Hook walked in.

"Captain. You look like you've had a rough time."

"Indeed, I have," he agreed. He approached her. "I've come to ask you for your protection."

"From Gold? I'm surprised you'd show your face in this town. You noticed your murder didn't take?"

"We've got bigger problems," Hook informed her. He informed her that Greg and Tamara want him to make an alliance with her and then betray her. "I say we make an alliance and skip the unpleasant betrayal business."

"Why should I trust you?" she questioned him.

"Because I'd never betray you," he replied. "Why don't the three of us realign our alliance."

"My mother died," she informed him.

"Well, she'll be missed. I knew her well enough to know what she wanted the most. Now I failed in my vengeance. The least I can do is help you with yours."

"Let me show you something," she said, and walked over to where she had a plant growing that had magic beans.

"An escape plan," he commented. He informed her of Cora's plan to leave Storybrooke with a bean to start over with her.

"And now I'm going to do the same with Henry. If you'll help me," Regina informed him. "This is how we'll escape the total destruction of Storybrooke. If I can trust you."

"You're saying the complete destruction. Including the Crocodile, yes?"

"Oh, yes. Rumpelstiltskin will die. If you'll help me."

After having a chat with Tamara and seeing that she had a list of everyone in Storybrooke and what their fairytale character names were, she warned her what could happen if anyone found out about Storybrooke. Tamara told her that she could trust her, which Katherine sensed to be a lie, so she went home and warned Snow whom wanted her to keep it a secret until she knew more.

Katherine watched, as Snow left and when she turned around, she saw Henry dressed and everything.

"So, we're back in business."

"I thought you were in the shower."

"Exactly. We're investigating Tamara, right?"

Since she knew she wouldn't be able to stop him, she told him, "Get your coat."

It was a cold, rainy day as Katherine sat in the car with Henry, doing a stake out while having a drink and eating a donut. When Henry mentioned how fun it was and that it was also fun to shoot bow and arrows and stuff, she looked at him.

"Is that something you still want? A way to go back to the enchanted forest?"

"Is there? There is! A bean or something. The giant brought it with him, didn't he? We could get a castle or something." When he saw someone come out of the store, he told her to duck, so she did.

When she looked, there was Neal and Tamara.

"Operation Preying Mantis is on," he announced.

A few minutes later, she was working on unlocking the apartment.

"So, once we find out that Tamara is evil, I guess the wedding is off?" he questioned her.

"That's something you'll have to talk to your father about. Whoever your real mother is, he hasn't seen her in a long time, if she's even still alive. And I doubt Regina would ever fall for your mother. I know you want both worlds, but sometimes you can't have both. Sometimes you either have your father or you have your mother. Not both. And sometimes tragic things happen and you lose them both. I know you hope to have a big, happy family but not everyone gets those. I'm just being honest for once in my long life. There's a chance that you'll be able to be with your father, but you'll either have to choose between Neal or Regina, or only be able to see him at certain times. I've been alive for way longer than you. I know how it goes with people that have similar family problems that you do. Hell, my doppelganger had foster parents that died and then later found out that her real father was actually her uncle and that her mother was turned by one of the vampires I turned during my long vampire life," she replied.

While she was investigating, she had Henry wait outside. She hadn't started investigating for five minutes, when Neal came home to find Henry by his apartment door. That's when he realized that something was going on.

"Oh, hell no." Assuming who it was, he called for her. "Katherine!" He opened the door and Henry came with him. "What's this about?" he asked.

"Tamara," she truthfully told him. "I think she's playing you."

"She's playing me? How?"

"I think she's the 'she' August was trying to warn us about. I didn't wanna tell you until I had proof."

"Well, as long as you broke into our room to spare my feelings. What? Are you out of your mind?"

"He warned us about a woman."

"You brought the kid into this?"

"I didn't bring him into this. He came on his own. She lied to me. Look, she's got a list of fairytale characters and who they are. Whoever she's gonna give that to, they could blow this whole town wide open."

"I helped her make that list," he admitted. "To help her come to grips with this place. It's not easy, you know? She's trying to deal with it for me."

"I know what this looks like, but it isn't. I'm not trying to sabotage anything. There's a floorboard loose. It shouldn't be. If there's nothing under there, fine. I back off."

"Okay, sure. What the hell," he replied.

When they looked under the board, there wasn't anything there, so she and Henry left.

After Regina came back upstairs at the library after retrieving the fail-safe, she found Hook there, alive. She was surprised, since she'd sent him to keep Maleficent distracted.

Tamara and Greg came into view after he informed her that they saved him from Maleficent and that they have a way against magic.

"Enough of this."

She tried to poof off, but it didn't work.

"That's not going to work. Not anymore," Greg informed her.

Meanwhile, Katherine was having a bowl of ice cream with Henry.

"You know, I believe you about Tamara," Henry told her.

"You should, 'cause I'm right."

"And when you prove it, we can all go back to the enchanted forest."

Regina looked at Hook.

"The cuff. You gave me this."

"Well, you insisted."

"You knew I'd want it."

"They rigged it with something that blocks your magic," Hook informed her.

Greg approached her, as she said, "So little bitty Owen does some magic of his own now."

"Not magic. Actually, this is something much better," Greg informed her. "Science."

She continued trying to get it off her wrist.

"You can stop doing that. It's not going to work," Greg informed her. "You can get rid of the leather, but inside, there's the toughest metal and machinery known to man. They're counter acting every magical bone in your body."

Tamara took out the list.

"Which one was she?"

"The Queen. The Evil Queen."

"Yes. I was," Regina said.

"But here, you're nothing," Greg reminded her.

"And what are you?"

"I'm just a man. A man on a mission."

"And all this just to try and find your father. I already told you. I don't know where he is."

"Yes, you do," Greg told her. "But that's not my mission."

"Then what is?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Greg said, and then told Tamara, "Bag her."

 **Ch. 42: Second Star To The Right**

After Tamara left, he heard a commotion downstairs, so he got dressed and went outside to see Rumple with a shoe over Wale's face.

After Wale got out of there, Rumple and Neal had an argument which soon led to why Neal was still in town.

"And yet you're still here," Rumple reminded him.

"For Katherine's sake. Not yours. As far as I'm concerned, you can leave both of us alone."

When Katherine entered Regina's office with Charming, Snow, and Henry it was unlocked and they didn't see the magic beans, and the alarm wasn't on. When Katherine looked at the alarm, there was an override on it and so they realized that something had happened to Regina and someone else had been in the office and taken the beans. That's when Katherine assumed Tamara. So she went back to the room to go find any evidence on her.

Hook was in the room with Regina whom was tied down on a table, while Greg and Tamara spoke in the next room. Tamara had stolen the beans and Greg gave Tamara the diamond he found on Regina.

"I'm sure he told you a lot of things," Greg said, when they were talking about Neal.

"Don't be jealous. When this is all over, this is coming off," she replied, holding up her hand and pointing to her engagement ring from Neal.

"The home field office is gonna have a field day with everything we've found so far," Greg said.

Regina looked at Hook from where she lay on the table.

"Whatever they're offering you, it's not worth it," she told him.

"Well, when they're offering to help me kill Rumpelstiltskin, I'd say it is."

"You trust them? You don't even know who you're working for."

Greg came in with a machine.

"Morning, Regina."

"This part of your mission?"

"No. This. This is personal. This is about my father."

"I already told you. He left town," she told him.

"And yet he never came to find his only son?" He looked at Hook. "Would you mind giving me a hand here? Preferably your good one?"

"Sorry, mate. When you're interested in killing Rumpelstiltskin and not torturing the Queen, find me."

Hook left.

Greg looked at her.

"Well, I guess it's just me and you."

He turned the machine on once he'd hooked her up to it.

"That's supposed to frighten me?" she questioned.

"Well, it should. You see, this is how we deal with your kind. And yes, it's going to be unpleasant. Exactly how unpleasant? That depends on you. Now, where is my father?" he replied, and used the machine to shoot a certain amount of voltage into her.

Katherine knocked on the door, figuring Neal was still home.

Neal opened the door.

"I'm here to search your room for real this time."

"Do I want to know what this is about, sheriff?"

"Where's your fiancée?"

"She's on a run. What do you think she did this time?"

"Regina's missing."

"You think she—? You're still on Tamara? Come on. You've got to be kidding me."

Katherine went around him to start searching in the closet.

"She's not a kidnapper," Neal told her.

She turned to look at him.

"Where did she go to run?"

"The same place she always does. The woods."

"How long has she been gone?"

"A couple hours. Does it matter? She's training for a marathon."

Katherine knelt down in the closet and examined the shoes. She saw some sand in the closet and stood up to turn around and look at him.

"If she runs in the woods, then why'd she track sand in here?"

"She likes to run along the beach. What does that prove?"

"That she lied. If she's lied about this, then you bet she's lied about other things too."

"Maybe she just likes to run along the beach," he replied.

"Only one way to find out."

Charming and Snow went to Rumple for help whom was in the back of his shop.

Rumple opened a cabinet and then turned around.

"Tell me, why do the Charmings want to help Regina?"

"Because I owe her after what I did to Cora," Snow replied.

"Never underestimate the power of a guilty conscience," he commented.

He took out a box that had a vial of something in it.

"What is that?" she questioned.

"This is one of Regina's tears."

He took it out of the box.

"Why do you have one of Regina's tears?"

He chuckled. "Because I do. This spell requires two tears. Just think of something bleak; hopeless."

Soon, the spell was completed.

"With that, I've completed my end of the bargain. Goodbye," Rumple said.

"Always a pleasure," Charming said.

Rumple watched them leave.

Neal and Katherine were on the beach, looking for Tamara whom jogged up to them asking why Neal was there and if everything was okay.

"I thought you went running in the woods," Neal said.

"Yeah, I start in the woods and then go running in the beach," she lied to him.

"Regina's missing."

"Oh my God. That's terrible."

"I thought maybe she was down here, but I was wrong."

"Well, I'm sure she'll turn up somewhere. Let me know if I can help at all." She looked at Neal. "See you later." She kissed him and then jogged off.

Katherine began to walk off.

"I should go."

Tamara entered the room and asked how it was going with "the Queen."

Greg asked if they bought it and she told him that as far as Neal was concerned, she was just jogging on the beach.

"She's not exactly cooperative, but everything's about to change. Right, Regina?" Greg said.

"You don't know who you're dealing with," Regina threatened, although all the shocks were weakening her.

"Actually, you don't know who you are dealing with."

"A couple of fools in over their heads go around stealing magic," Regina said.

Tamara chuckled.

"Stealing magic? That's what you think we're here to do?"

"We're not here to steal magic. We're here to destroy it," Greg informed her.

"Magic does not belong in this world," Tamara stated. "It's unholy. We're here to get rid of it."

Regina chuckled. "You think you can destroy magic? Just the two of you?"

Greg approached Regina.

"Who said it's just the two of us? We're everywhere, Regina. You see, after I left Storybrooke, as a boy, I was babbling about magic; about what I had seen; what happened to my father. Some folks wrote me off, but some didn't, and they found me."

"They?"

"Believers. People that know that magic is real."

"People that know it doesn't belong in this world and that are willing to do something about it," Tamara interjected.

"This little quest of yours? To cleanse the world of magic? It's not going to work."

"Of course it will. We've done it before. And we'll do it again. You think Storybrooke is the first time magic has crossed over?"

He went over and pushed the button on the machine again, sending more volts into her.

After Katherine got a call from Charming, when Katherine and Neal were at the docks, she realized where Regina was when Charming said that she could smell sardines.

"Get down to the docks right now," she said, before hanging up. She then told Neal, "I was right. She wasn't down for a run. She was in there with Regina," she said, seeing the building that read 'Storybrooke Cannery Co.'

She left the dock and headed for the building and Neal followed.

Tamara looked at the laptop that had a picture of cameras on the place so they could monitor if anyone found them. When she saw that they'd been found, she knocked on the window and then at the threshold, informed him that they were found.

"I thought you took care of them."

"I thought so too."

"I need more time," Greg said.

"Fine. Meet me when you're done."

Tamara headed out and Greg went over to Regina and put the machine at a higher voltage.

"I'm going to give you one last chance. Where's my father?" After a moment of silence, he said, "Time's up."

"Wait," Regina said.

He looked at her.

"Where is he?"

She gave a smile and said, "Dead. I killed him the minute you ran away."

"No. You're lying to me. Really? Go see for yourself. I buried his body at your camp site. Now go ahead and kill me."

He went back to the machine and pressed the button.

She screamed from the pain of the high voltage.

"Now you're never gonna hurt anyone ever again," Greg said.

Charming came into the room and shot the machine and then pointed his gun at Greg.

"Don't move!"

Greg didn't listen and bolted, so Charming ran after him, while Snow stayed with Regina.

Katherine and Neal were looking around for Tamara, when Katherine got hit by her behind.

"Actually, it was me. I just had a little help," Tamara said, and picked up the gun and approached Neal.

"How long have you been lying to me?"

"Since the beginning, when I spilled coffee on you."

"You never loved me," he realized.

"This is an important job to do. Please understand."

"I can't let you leave here," he said, and began to approach her.

"Don't make me do it, Neal," she said, gun pointed at him.

He continued to approach, so she shot him in the side.

Katherine got to her feet and magically threw her away from Neal and against a wall. Then she picked up the gun from the ground.

"It's over."

Tamara took a bean out of her coat and tossed it to the floor.

"I don't think so."

A portal opened up and Katherine stepped some ways away.

Tamara began to leave, but Katherine magically through her. Tamara then ended up trying to not get sucked into the portal.

Kat didn't realize how strong the portal was and Neal had to save her from getting sucked into the portal.

In the end, he got sucked into the portal with Tamara, but Katherine was okay. She knew she couldn't stay there and do nothing right now, so she went to the room where Regina was, and, being from a lot crazier world than this one, knew what Regina had been going through. She realized that Greg had used a high voltage machine on her.

"Let's get her out of here," Katherine told Snow, and unhooked Regina from everything and unstrapped her from the table.

Charming came back to the room, when Greg had gotten out of his sight.

"Let me guess. He got away," Katherine said. "It doesn't matter. We'll catch him later. Let's just get her out of here and get home."

Once she was in bed in the loft at the Charming and Katherine's place, Katherine sat on her bedside and, after taking the cuff off of her, she used magic to heal what had been done to her.

"She'll be okay. You can go downstairs," she told Snow and Charming, once she'd healed her.

Regina soon awoke to Katherine on her bedside.

"You saved me."

"Of course. Just because we've done bad things doesn't mean we'd let someone die. Besides, we all have some kind of evil still inside us. We just deal with it in our own way."

"Where are they?" Regina asked her.

"Tamara was sucked into her own portal; probably dead or something. Greg got away. Why?"

"Then they still have the trigger I made inside the curse."

"Should I even ask what you were planning on doing with the trigger?"

"I was going to get away from this town with Henry, before the rest of you."

"So, you were going to destroy the town as well as everyone in it," Katherine guessed. She wasn't exactly mad at her. They'd been keeping her away from Henry with the best of intentions and Snow had killed her mother. Besides, Katherine had been on the evil side for several centuries and if she were Regina, she probably would've done the same thing or worst if people had done to her as they'd done to Regina recently. "Then we'll have to find it, but you need to take it easy for a while. You may be healed, but you don't have your magic right now. What they did to you, it took your magic away."

 **Ch.43: And Straight On 'Til Morning**

Rumple was by a bush, watching Henry on the tire swing, when Katherine came up to Rumple.

"I have to talk to you about your son," Katherine informed him.

"What about my son?"

"I think it would be best if we go somewhere else to talk," she suggested.

She began to walk away at his side.

Once they were far away from where Henry and Granny and Charming and Snow were at, she finally began to tell him what happened.

"I'm sorry, but Bae is gone. Tamara opened up a portal after she shot him. She was trying to get away, but she fell through the portal. I almost did too, but he saved me. I don't know if he's alive or not, or where the hell he even is if he is alive. He could be alive, or he could be dead, but he was badly injured," she informed him.

"I killed him. I brought magic to this world to find Bae. Now he's dead. Magic always comes with a price and this is it," Rumple said.

"It wasn't your fault," she assured him. "Look, this isn't the only reason I came to you. Greg has the fail-safe trigger. He's willing to die to destroy magic. If we don't find it, everyone that's not from this world will die, including you."

"No," he said.

"Look. A parent to a parent, even though I wasn't much of one to my daughter, just as you weren't much of one to Bae, he wouldn't want you to die, whether he's alive or not. I may have been willing to let people die in the past, but not now."

He began to walk away.

She watched him go, realizing he wasn't going to help. That's when she realized that they were on their own.

Katherine went back to where Henry was and told him what happened to his father.

Greg and Hook went down into the mines and Greg informed him that according to the people that give them orders, even though neither of them never knew who their "commanders" are, said that the certain axe activates it. When Greg told Hook that, he told him, "I'm willing to die for my cause. Are you?"

Hook looked at him and told him he was, though Hook was having second thoughts. He didn't want to die with this town, which he realized Greg was willing to do.

He watched Greg activate the trigger and then he and Greg left the mines.

A moment later, there was a miniature earthquake and vines began to grow around the clock tower and the diner shook a little.

Regina slowly sat up in bed and got up and went into the kitchen, just as Katherine entered the apartment with Charming, Snow, and Henry.

After Regina and Henry hugged, there was an earthquake.

Katherine looked at her.

"Regina, was that the—?" she began.

"Yes. The diamond," Regina informed her.

"So, we're all going to die," Henry said.

"You were born here, so you'll live," Regina assured him.

"But, I'll be alone," he said.

"I'm so sorry, Henry," Regina said.

"That's not going to happen," Katherine said. "You did this. You can make it stop."

"There's no way," Regina told her.

"Then we'll figure out a way," Katherine replied.

"I already lost my dad. I don't want to lose anyone else. We have to work together," Henry said.

Hook walked in.

"From the mouths of babes," Hook commented. "I'd say the lad has a point."

Charming hit him.

"For the last time we met."

"Blood hell," Hook commented.

Charming pulled out his gun.

"Tell us why you're here, before I use something else other than my fist."

"I think threatening to kill me is a bit of a abundant, since we're all about to die anyway," Hook told him.

"No thanks to you," Katherine said. "Regina told us you were working with them to get your vengeance against Gold."

"Well, that was before he told me I had to die to get it," Hook informed her.

"We don't have time for this," Katherine stated.

"Which is why I'm here. Staring death in the face has made me realize if there's anything I want more than revenge, it's my life. So, let's stop this and then we can resume bickering."

"There's no stopping it. The best thing I can do is slow it down, but that will only delay the inevitable," Regina informed them.

"It'll give us time," Charming said.

"Time for what?" Snow asked.

"Steal the beans and use them to get everyone back to the enchanted forest, before Storybrooke disappears."

"How?" Katherine questioned, sensing a plan. "We don't know where Greg is."

"I do," Hook said.

"Why should we trust you? You were willing to let everyone die just to make sure Rumpelstiltskin dies so you can get your vengeance."

"I'll go with him," Charming said. "If he tries anything, I'll shoot him in the face."

"I'll go with Regina to slow it down." She looked at Snow. "Take Henry with you and get everyone ready for when we get those beans."

"Wait. Henry. Before you go, I'm sorry for what's happened. I tried to be better and I failed. I won't let you be alone. I just want you to know that I love you," Regina told him.

"I love you too," he said.

They hugged and then he left with Snow and she left with Katherine.

"The things we do for our children," Hook commented to Charming, before leaving with him.

Charming and Hook got to the docks, just as another earthquake hit.

"We're running out of time," Hook told him.

"Oh, is that what that means?" Charming said.

When Hook and Charming were walking through the building, looking for Greg, Charming asked him, "So, tell me Hook. All this time it's been about revenge. Why all of sudden does it matter to you that you survive? What I'm fighting for is my family. What are you fighting for?"

"Myself. It's a plan of motivation, I assure you," he replied.

Once they found Greg, Hook got the beans from Greg, but Greg got away again.

Katherine was walking through the mines with Regina.

Soon, they came upon it.

"There it is. Once it stops glowing, its destruction is achieved. Then we'll see the real carnage." Regina went to stand in front of the trigger. "I'll try and contain it as long as I can."

"You won't need to for long. Then we can get the hell out of here."

"Slowing the device will require all the strength that I have."

"You're not coming with us, are you? When you said goodbye to Henry, you were saying goodbye."

"He knows I love him, doesn't he?"

"Regina, no. There's gotta be another way."

"Everything that's happening, it's my fault. I created this device. It's only fair that it takes my life."

"What am I supposed to tell Henry?"

"Tell him that in the end, it wasn't too late for me to do the right thing."

"Regina, please."

"Everyone looks at me as the Evil Queen, including my son. Let me die as Regina," she said, before starting to slow it down.

Katherine left, even though she didn't want to.

Charming and Hook entered the diner where everyone was at, including Katherine.

"We did it," Charming announced.

"You have the beans?"

"Yeah. We did it."

Katherine turned to the crowd of people.

"Henry?"

"Where's my mom?" Henry asked.

"Regina can hold off the device long enough for us to escape it." She paused, not liking having to tell him the news.

"But what?" he asked, sensed that there was something she wasn't saying.

"She won't survive. I promised her I'd get you to safety."

"You can't. She's family. You don't leave family behind."

"This is what she wants. It's our only chance. We have to take it."

"We saved her from being killed by the Wraith. How is this any different?" Henry replied.

"The Wraith. We sent it through a portal. Why can't we do the same to the trigger?" Snow said.

Katherine looked at her.

"We don't know if it'll work."

"It could," Snow replied.

"Yeah," Charming said.

"It's too risky. No one will go along with it."

"They will. 'Cause it's the right thing to do," Hopper said. "Look, Snow White and the Prince have always led us before, and we've always won. So, who's willing to let them lead us again?"

Hopper raised his hand, as did everyone else.

Katherine agreed to the plan, even though she wasn't sure if it would work and didn't want Henry to be alone like she'd been ever since 1492 Bulgaria.

Hook took the distraction and took the bag.

"She wants to die. I say we let her."

Katherine turned to him.

"You and I, we understand each other. Look out for yourself and never get hurt, right?"

"Well it works for me."

"Until the day that it doesn't. It might be stupid and it might be crazy, but we're doing it. So, you can join us and be a part of something, or you can do what you do best and be alone."

He handed the bag over.

"Quite passionate, Pierce. Why are you really doing this?"

"He just lost his father. I'm not letting him lose his mother too."

"His father? Who was Henry's father?" Hook questioned her.

"Neal."

"Baelfire," Hook realized.

"Yeah," she replied, before leaving the diner.

They found Regina in the mines.

"What are you doing here?" Regina asked.

"You were willing to die to save us. You're a hero. Now we're gonna be heroes," Henry told her.

Charming and Snow informed her of the plan.

When Katherine looked inside the bag though, it was empty. She realized that Hook had taken it without anyone seeing that he had.

"I can't contain it much longer," Regina informed Katherine, looking at her.

Henry came over to Regina.

"I really wish I was strong enough to stop all of this," Regina told him. "But I'm not."

Henry hugged her.

Katherine approached after trying to think of a plan of what to do now.

She looked at her and Henry pulled away from Regina.

"You may not be strong enough, but maybe we are."

She touched the glowing magic and began to do as Regina was doing.

After a few minutes, they were thrown away and the trigger deactivated itself.

Snow and Charming got up and Charming went over and helped Katherine up.

Regina got up and picked up the diamond.

"We did it," Katherine stated.

"Yes. We did," Regina agreed.

"Gotta hand it to Henry. He's right about a lot of things," Charming said.

"Yes, he is," Katherine agreed.

When Katherine looked around for Henry, she didn't see him.

When they went looking, all they found was his backpack. That's when Katherine realized that Greg had taken Henry.

"You don't even know where he is," Charming told her, when they were briskly walking through the docks.

"I don't care. I'll track them both through hell and back if I have to. I couldn't help Bae and I couldn't save Nadia's life, but I won't let anything happen to Henry, whether I'm his mother or not. I've done many things in my life, but I'd never put a child in harm's way."

They arrived in enough time to see Greg throw a bean into the water, which opened up a portal, and Greg jump himself and Henry into the portal.

"No!" Katherine said, but she knew it was too late to stop Greg, because the portal was already closed.

When they were discussing of how to get them back, Rumple and Belle were walking through the docks and overheard.

Rumple informed them that they needed a bean in order to travel between worlds, so there was no way to get him back without a portal.

"So that's it? He's gone? No. I refuse to believe that," Regina said.

Belle walked past them, seeing something in the distance.

"What's that?"

Everyone looked into the distance.

"Hook," Katherine said.

Hook soon arrived back at the dock with his ship.

"What are you doing here?" Katherine asked.

"Helping to save the town."

"We already did," Charming informed him.

When they informed him of the situation, Hook said that he'd help them find him with his ship.

"That's great, but how will we find him?" Katherine inquired.

"Leave that up to me. I can track him," Rumple told her.

Everyone boarded the ship.

Rumple gave Belle a rolled up paper.

"This town is no longer safe. They tried to destroy magic and they weren't working alone. Follow these instructions. It's a cloaking spell. It'll keep the town safe."

She took it from him.

He looked at her and told her, "I have to go with them. This cloaking spell will keep anyone from finding the town."

"But how will you find your way back to me?"

He was silent at that question.

"You're not coming back," she realized.

"The prophecy. The boy is my undoing, but he's also my grandson. I must save him. I must do this to honor Baelfire. He's gone and I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye."

She put hands on his shoulders, stepping closer to him.

"I understand, but I also know that the future isn't always as it seems. I will see you again," she replied.

She put hands around his neck, as they kissed. Then she let go and stepped back.

"Baelfire would be very proud of you," she said, before walking away.

Rumple watched her go, before boarding the ship.

Meanwhile, Neal was on a beach, not awake, when Aurora and Eric found him.

"We have to get him help," Aurora said.

Back on the Jollyroger, Hook approached Rumple.

"So, are you done trying to kill me?" Rumple asked him.

"I believe so."

"Excellent," Rumple commented. "Then you can live." He made a globe appear. After dropping some of his own blood on the white globe, it showed where Henry was.

"Where is that?" Regina asked.

"Neverland," Hook told her.

Hook through a bean into the water and a portal opened. Then he sailed the ship into the portal to find Neverland, as Regina grabbed a rope and Katherine and Rumple held on to a part of the ship, as did Snow and Charming on the opposite side of the side Katherine and Rumple were on.

Snow and Charming asked who Greg was working for and Rumple told them, "Someone we should all fear."

Even though Rumple didn't say a name, Katherine knew enough fairytales to know which fairytale they were going to be entering. She knew who, in fairytales, lived in Neverland, and that was Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, though she didn't know why Peter Pan would want Henry.

 **Ch.44: The Heart Of The Truest Believer**

The Jollyroger finished its course from Storybrooke to Neverland soon enough and Katherine saw an island up ahead.

"I assume that's it," she said.

"Aye," Hook said. "Neverland."

Regina approached Hook where he was steering.

"Why are you slowing down? In case you didn't know, my son's life is in danger."

"Oh, I know, my hotheaded Queen. My plan is to bring us to the far side of the island, link up with the widest part of the river. Then we sail right through and take him by surprise. The irony."

"What irony?"

"Oh. I spent more time than I care to remember trying to leave this place and to kill Rumpelstiltskin. And here I am, sailing right back into its heart with him as my guest of honor. It's not quite the happy ending I was hoping for."

"Greg Mendell said something funny to me. He said I'm a villain. And that villains don't get happy endings. You believe that?"

"I hope not. Or we've wasted our lives."

Katherine was staring into the open water, when Snow and Charming came up to her.

"Hey," Snow said. "What happened to Neal and Henry, it's not your fault. You can't blame yourself."

She looked at her.

"I don't. You say good always wins, but I didn't grow up in some fairytale land. All I can go on is my experience. It's way different than yours."

"And all we have to go on is ours," Snow replied. "So, if you would just let us share our wisdom—."

"I appreciate you trying to make me feel better about the situation we're in, but I don't need your wisdom. All I want is to do good and get Henry back for myself and Regina and everyone else. Besides, all of this is happening because I broke the curse. Nothing enormously bad was happening before I broke the curse. Then I broke it and everything has all gone wrong. I should've left town and gone back to where I came from. I could've gone to New Orleans and asked for a second chance."

"You're right. Then you'd probably be together," Snow replied.

"We are going to get our family back," Charming assured her.

"How can you two be so infuriatingly optimistic?" she inquired.

"It's who we are," Charming reminded her.

"Why? Ever since you got your memories back, your lives have sucked."

"What is this really about?" Snow inquired of her.

"I lost Neal and Henry and countless others before and in Storybrooke," she answered her.

"Katherine, the minute I let go of the belief that things will get better is the minute I know they won't. We'll find Henry," Snow assured her.

"No, you won't," Rumple said, standing not far from where Hook was steering.

"Well, that's a good use of our time. A wardrobe change," Hook commented, since Rumple was now wearing what he used to wear before Storybrooke.

"I'm gonna go get Henry," Rumple stated.

"We agreed to do this together," Regina reminded him, standing not far behind him.

Katherine went to stand not far from Rumple, an old lamp in hand.

"Actually, we made no such agreement," Rumple replied.

"Why are you doing this?" Katherine asked.

"Because I want to succeed," Rumple replied.

"What makes you think I'm gonna fail?"

"How could you not? You don't believe in them or yourself. Only what's been shown to you. When have you ever taken a real leap of Faith? You know, the kind where there's absolutely no proof. I've known you some time Ms. Pierce, and sadly, despite everything you've been through, you're still that bail bondsperson. Looking for evidence. Well, dearie, that's not gonna work in Neverland."

She looked at him.

"I'll do whatever it takes."

"Or you just need someone to tell you what that is. Sorry, dearie. Our foe is too fearsome for hand-holding. Neverland is a place where imagination runs wild, and sadly, yours doesn't."

A moment later, he was gone.

Meanwhile, The Lost Boys found Greg and Henry. Greg had thought that home office would have a way of getting him home, but he was wrong. One of the shadows ripped his shadow out of him, killing him, so Henry ran until Pan got him, though at the time, Henry thought he was a Lost Boy that escaped from the others.

Katherine was in the bunker, sitting down, when Hook walked in.

She looked at him.

"Don't let Rumpelstiltskin get you down, luv."

"What do you want?"

"To give you something. You know, Baelfire and I spent a lot of time together for a time." He pulled out a sword that was still in its sheath and went to stand in front of her. "This was his."

"I didn't realize you were sentimental."

"I'm not. I just thought you could use it where we're going. To fight."

He opened up a bottle of rum and poured them both a shot.

She looked at him.

"Thanks."

"To Baelfire."

"To Baelfire," she said, and they both drank to it.

Hook sat across from her.

"How long have you known him?" she asked.

"Long enough to know I miss him too."

There was a crash from above.

"What was that?" she asked.

He got to his feet and headed out of the bunker to go check it out.

Regina went over to where Charming and Snow were trying to steer.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

"Trying to keep it steady!" Snow informed her.

"Hold on!" Charming said.

Hook came up from the bunker and Katherine followed.

"Prepare for attack!"

Regina looked at him.

"Be more specific!"

"If you've got a weapon, then grab it!" Hook ordered.

Katherine grabbed part of a rope to hang on.

"What's out there? A shark? A whale?"

"A Kraken?" Charming questioned.

"Worse," Hook replied. "Mermaids."

Charming, Snow, and Katherine looked down into the water and saw them.

"Mermaids?" Katherine inquired. She'd never heard of mermaids as being something bad to come across.

"Yes. And they're quite unpleasant," Hook informed her, as he steered.

"You think?" Regina said.

"I'll try and outrun them," Hook said.

"How many of them are there?" Katherine asked.

"I will not be capsized by fish!" Charming said.

Charming put something in the launcher and fired at one.

"Katherine!" Snow said, and went to help Charming by grabbing a net.

"What are we doing?" she questioned, but followed her.

"We're fishing."

She helped Snow get the net over.

A moment later, Snow said, "We caught one!"

"One? There are dozens of them," Regina replied. "Enough of this." She made a ball of fire appear in her hand and began throwing it at the mermaids until they fled. "There. They're gone."

"Not all of them," Katherine said.

"What about that one?" Snow asked.

Regina saw the one that they had caught and magically made the net and mermaid appear aboard the ship.

The mermaid tried to get loose, but couldn't.

"Get that thing off my ship!" Hook demanded.

"No!" Regina replied. "Now we have a hostage."

"I hate to say it, but I'm with Hook," Charming told her. "Those things just tried to kill us."

"And perhaps we should find out why," Regina replied.

"How? By torturing her?" Snow asked.

"Well, if need be, sure," Regina replied.

The mermaid used a shell to blow into.

"What the hell is that?" Katherine asked.

"A warning," the mermaid said. "Let me go. Or die."

On one side of the island, Rumple found the aftermath of what had happened.

On the other side, Henry was still running with Pan even though he still didn't know he was Pan.

"What is this? What did you do?" Charming asked her, knelt down with the seashell in hand.

"Let me go," she replied.

"Not until you tell us. Or we make you tell us," Regina commanded.

"Threatening her isn't the way to motivate her," Snow told her.

"Well, I'm all out of fish food," Regina replied.

"Doesn't matter if you get her to talk. You can't trust her. Mermaids are liars," Hook informed them all.

"Maybe they're just scared of Pan. If we let her go, maybe they'll be on our side," Snow suggested.

"Or maybe she and her friends will come right back to kill us," Regina replied.

"I don't need my friends to kill you. You'll kill yourselves. Now, let me go."

"What the hell!" Charming said.

"It's a storm," Hook said. "She called it. Don't let her go. She'll swim off and leave us all to die. At least with her, we've got leverage."

"Stop the storm. Then we let you go," Charming said, a sword to the mermaid's throat.

Regina knelt by Charming and the mermaid.

"That's more like it, Charming. Filet the bitch."

Snow and Katherine were silent, watching the scene.

Charming stepped away.

"No. We're not barbarians."

"What we're going to be is dead," Regina said.

"Hold on, I'm gonna turn around," Hook announced to them. "I've outrun many a storm."

"Make it stop. Or die," Regina threatened her.

"We're not killers," Snow said.

"Yes, you are. And you've brought this death upon yourselves."

"This is why we should free her," Snow warned.

"That feel-good nonsense, Snow, might play in the enchanted forest, but this? This is Neverland," Regina reminded her.

"Keep your grip, pirate!" Charming shouted, as the storm got even worse and Katherine almost lost her balance.

"It wasn't me, mate! It was the ship! We're taking on water."

"Now may I resume killing her?" Regina questioned.

"No," Charming told her.

"You kill her and her kind have a personal vendetta against us," Snow warned her.

"Look, the Queen is right. They've already tried killing us," Hook told Snow.

Regina magically turned the mermaid into wood.

"There. That should stop the storm."

Katherine grabbed onto the closest rope, when a sudden huge wave appeared.

"What have you done?" she scolded Regina.

She went over to where Hook was and tried to help him steer the ship, though she had no experience with ships or boats. She'd grown up with them and had traveled in them, but she'd never had to steer one before.

"I thought you said you could outrun a storm."

"This isn't a storm. It's a bloody damnation."

Snow looked at Regina.

"Why would you do this?"

"You're going to blame me?" Regina questioned.

"You turned the mermaid into wood."

"I did something about it, which is more than what you can say."

"Undo your spell. Bring back the mermaid."

"And what? You'll win her over with your rainbow kisses and unicorn stickers?"

"Considering that your plan failed, at least we can try."

"Such a naïve princess!"

"And you are such a—," Snow began, but stopped herself. Instead, she hit Regina.

"Is that your best?"

"Not even close. I'm so tired of you ruining my life."

"I ruined your life?"

Regina hit her back.

Lightning almost hit the ship.

"Hey. Let the slags go. I need you at the mast," Hook ordered Charming.

"Don't call my wife a slag," Charming said.

"Stop it!" Katherine yelled at Charming and Hook, as she tried to steer it, but it wasn't working out very well on her own. "If you don't stop fighting, we're all going to die!" She went to stand on one of the ship's ledges. "Hey! Stop! You need to listen to me!" she yelled at them, but they weren't listening to her.

Suddenly, the storm got even worse and she lost her footing on the ledge and fell into the water. A part of rope went with her, too. After a few minutes, everything went black for her.

"Katherine!" Snow yelled, and that's when everyone stopped fighting and looked over the edge to see if they could find her.

"Regina! Get her up here!" Snow said after a moment of not seeing her in the water.

"I can't. not in this storm. I can't even see her," Regina informed her. "I'll just bring up water and half her leg."

Hook grabbed a rope and put it around his waist.

"She'll drown. I'll pull her up," Hook said.

Once they had a hold of the rope, he dove into the water and, after a few minutes, spotted her. He made his way over to her and put an arm around her waist. Then he surfaced with her.

When they saw that he had her, they pulled on the rope, getting them to the ship.

Once they were aboard, he got the rope off himself and knelt by her, where she lay on her back. He could tell that she wasn't breathing.

"No," was all Snow could say, while the others were silent.

He bent down and kissed her, hoping it would work, and rested his good hand on the side of her face.

She wasn't awake, but she did cough up the water.

Everyone sighed in relief, knowing that she'd be okay.

"That a girl, luv," Hook praised, though he wasn't sure if she could hear him yet or not.

Regina did the steering, while Hook stayed at Katherine's side, waiting for her to wake up, as the sky cleared, signaling that the storm was no more.

"Wake up, darling. Come on, luv. Wake up."

She soon woke up to see that she was back on the ship, Hook at her side. She assumed that he'd saved her life.

She slowly began to get up and he helped her.

"Thanks, but next time, listen to me when I tell all of you to stop fighting each other."

"You're welcome, luv."

Meanwhile, Henry had mastered the ability to use pixie dust to fly, since he and Pan were on a ledge and didn't have anywhere to go and nothing to use to help them except for the pixie dust.

On the other side of the island, Rumple was sitting on a log, when he sensed a presence watching him.

"Come out and say hello, dearie."

"Hello, Rumpelstiltskin. Pan welcomes you to the island. He wanted me to tell you he is excited to see you again."

"Yeah, I'm sure he is."

"He wanted me to let you know you're welcome in Neverland for as long as you wish to stay. With one caveat."

"There's always something with him."

"If you're here for the boy, well, that makes you Pan's enemy."

"Then nothing's changed."

"If you go against him, you will not survive."

Rumple chuckled.

"Well, the question isn't will I survive, because we both know I won't." He stood up from the log. "No, no. The real question is how many of you I take with me." He grabbed a hold of the Lost Boy's cloak at that last part.

"So, is that your answer?"

"That's my answer."

"Well then, I suppose that means I'll see you again in less friendly circumstances."

"Count on it."

Rumple began to walk away, but the Lost Boy said, "One last thing," stopping Rumple.

Rumple turned around to face him again.

"There's something he wanted you to have."

The boy tossed a voodoo doll on the ground by Rumple and Rumple knelt down and picked it up, remembering a certain time.

"Oh…"

"Isn't it funny?" the boy said. "The things we haven't thought about in years still have the ability to make us cry. See you around, Dark One."

The boy walked away.

Soon, they reached the island and left the ship.

"We don't have to do it this way," Regina stated. "I can fix the Jollyroger. My magic is powerful enough. We can execute the pirate's plan."

"Sneak attack? Let's not be naïve. Save your magic. We'll need it later, because Pan already knows we're here. It's time we stop running. Gold was right. This land is run on belief. All of us have been too busy being at each other's throats to be believers. I was wrong as anyone else. But it's time for all of us to believe. Not in magic, but in each other," Katherine announced.

"You want to be friends?" Regina inquired. "After everything that's happened between all of us?"

"I don't want or expect that. I know there's a lot of history here, a lot of hate," she replied.

"Actually, I quite fancy you from time to time, when you're not yelling at me," Hook confessed to her.

"We don't need to be friends. What we need to know is the only way to get Henry back is cooperation," Katherine continued after side glancing at Hook when he said that.

"With her?" Charming questioned. "With him? No, Katherine. We have to do this the right way."

"No, we don't. We just need to succeed. And the way we do that is by just being who we are. A hero. A villain. A pirate. It doesn't matter which, because we're gonna need all those skills, whether we can stomach them or not."

"And what's your skill?" Regina asked her.

"I have many skills. I'm a former mother and I'm descended from Travelers, which are a form of witches, so I've got magic of my own. And once I know my enemy, both his weaknesses and strengths, I know how to be several steps ahead. And after what happened back there, I'm also your leader. So, either help me get your son back or get out of my way," she answered, and then took out Bae's old sword from its sheath, as she walked away.

Charming took his sword out and he and Snow followed her. Then Hook gave Regina a look, as he followed. Then Regina finally followed, though she didn't like being led or told what to do.

Henry and Pan landed back on the ground in the jungle.

"See? If you believe, anything is possible."

"You couldn't be more right, Henry."

"How…How'd you know my name? I never told you."

"Let's make it a game. A puzzle to solve."

"You lied to me. You are a Lost Boy. You work for Pan!"

"Not exactly. I am Peter Pan. But you told Greg and Tamara that magic is bad, that you'd help them destroy it. Why?"

"Because I needed their help. And it is so much easier to get people to hate something than to believe."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"For quite some time, I've sought something extremely important. Something more elusive than the greatest of all mysteries."

"What?"

"The heart of the truest believer. And when you took that pixie dust, Henry, and jumped off that cliff, you proved yourself." He went over and knocked on a tree. "You are the lucky owner of that very special heart. And now? You, and it, are mine." He took out his sword and raised it to the sky. "Come on, boys!"

The Lost Boys came out and surrounded Henry.

"Let's play," Pan said.

 **Ch. 45: Lost Girl**

It was a nebulous night on the island, as Rumple stood by some wood that was stacked up, and brought out a fireball. He then through it at the wood and it made a campfire. He then released his own shadow with the dagger and held it out to his shadow.

"You know what to do. Hide it where no one can find it. Not even me."

His shadow took it and flew off.

Meanwhile, the others were on the island, Charming cutting through the bushes to make a pathway, as they walked, being in the lead. Hook was behind Charming, while Regina was behind him and Katherine behind Regina, with Snow being at the end.

"The ridge is just a few hundred paces up ahead," Hook informed them all.

"You really think we're gonna be able to see Pan's hideout?" Katherine questioned.

"From there, we should be able to see everything. Including where he's keeping Henry."

"You know, I could have just poofed us up here in an instant," Regina reminded him.

"Where? Have you any idea what's up here? Or anywhere? There are dangers all about. Only I can guide us past them."

"He's right. Hook's lived here before," Katherine agreed, not doubting him. "If he says hiking up is the best way, then we listen."

"Here. You need to stay hydrated," Snow said to Katherine, offering her a canteen of water.

"Thanks," Katherine said, and stopped and took a drink from it. Then she started walking again, this time ahead of Snow.

They got to a small clearing and when Hook recognized the thorns, he grabbed Charming's wrist, stopping him, as he told him no.

Charming looked at him.

"I can handle a couple thorns."

"That's dreamshade," Hook informed him. "It's not the thorns you have to worry about. It's the poison they inject you with. The plant is the source of the toxins I used on the Dark One."

"The poison that almost killed Gold?"

Hook looked at Katherine when she asked that and then back at the thorns.

"Indeed. I used a concentrated dose. In its natural form, death would be much slower and far more painful. I suggest we go this way."

Hook was about to go to his right, but Charming began to go to his left, not trusting him, as he said, "We'll go this way."

Everyone followed Charming, but Katherine stayed behind with Hook.

"He's a distrustful fellow," Hook stated.

"He's just not used to working with the bad guys," Katherine replied.

"I assure you, on this island, I'm not the bad guy."

"Yeah, well, Pan's not supposed to be one either," she said, and began to go the way Charming and the others had.

"What possibly gave you that idea?" Hook wanted to know, as he followed her.

"Every story I ever heard as a child."

"Well, they got it wrong. Pan's the most treacherous villain I've ever faced. Listen, tell me something, luv, in these stories, what was I like? Other than a villain. Handsome, I gather?" He ended with a smile.

"Depends on which version. There are many different versions of your story, but yes, handsome is part of the stories. In some, you're older with a mustache and a perm. I didn't much like the version of you with a perm, though. They all have something in common though. You're a villain and Pan's the hero and you lost a hand to an actual crocodile. There's nothing about Dark Ones in the stories," she explained to him. Then she began to walk off.

He stopped walking.

"I take it, perms are bad?"

They heard Charming call, saying, "Up here," and so they followed to where Charming and the others were. "We made it," Charming added.

As they looked across, it was a long drop down and a long way to jump to the other side, unless you knew how to fly.

"Pan's lair should be just right…," Hook began.

"Where? All I see is jungle," Regina replied.

"Aye. The Dark Jungle." Hook pulled out his handheld telescope to look at it. "It's, uh, grown somewhat since I last stepped foot in Neverland." He put it away.

"So this nature hike was for nothing?" Regina blurted out.

"Hook may have led us astray, but at least we're in a good position to start combing the jungle," Charming said.

"Not exactly," Hook warned.

Snow and then Charming looked at Hook, as Hook continued.

"The Dark Jungle is the last place you want to set foot. We'll have to go around it. In order to do that, we're going to need our strength. I suggest we make camp."

"You want to sleep while my son is out there suffering?" Regina argued with him.

Hook sighed. "If you want to live long enough to save your boy, yes." He then looked at Katherine and walked off. Then Regina followed behind Hook and then Charming put his sword back in its sheath and did the same. Snow was about to follow, but saw that Katherine wasn't going anywhere, so she stopped and looked at her.

"You okay?" Snow asked.

"Regina's right. Henry's out there somewhere."

"And Hook is right," Snow assured her. "We have to survive if we're going to get him."

"I know. I just hope we're not too late."

"After everything Charming and I have been through, there's one thing we've learned. It's never too late."

Later that night, they were all asleep, but when Katherine started hearing some kind of noise, she woke up and grabbed Neal's old sword and went to investigate, only to see a boy leaning against a tree.

"You can hear that, too? You're Katherine, right? I wonder why they can't hear the crying."

She raised her sword to him, standing a little ways a way.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, did I forget to introduce myself? I'm Peter. Peter Pan."

She immediately pushed him so that his back was up against the tree and she had the sword to his throat.

"Where's Henry?"

"You've got fire. I like fire," he responded with a smile.

"You don't know the half of it. I can show you a hell of a lot more. I'm just getting started. Now where is he?" She demanded.

"Henry's still alive, if that's what you're worried about."

"Why the hell did you take him?"

"He's a very special boy, Katherine."

"I know. That doesn't answer my question. What do you want with him?"

"I came here to see who I was up against. The Savior."

"Gotta say, I'm not disappointed."

"What are you gonna say now? I'm never gonna see Henry again? If so, you've got another thing coming."

"No. I'm going to help you find him. I'll give you a map."

She released him, but kept the sword aimed at him.

He took a piece of paper out.

"A map that will lead you straight to Henry."

"If this is some kind of trap, you're gonna regret it," she threatened him.

He chuckled.

"I may not be the most well-behaved boy on the island, but I always keep my promises. The path to finding Henry is on this parchment."

"Why are you giving it to me? Why help me?"

"See, it's not about finding Henry. It's about how you find him. And, Katherine, you are the only one who can."

She took the paper from him, but it was blank.

She gave him a look.

"You'll only be able to read that map when you stop denying who you really are."

She watched, as he walked away.

Later, they were all awake and Katherine had informed them of everything. Regina was pacing and Hook was sitting on a log.

"He so likes his games," Hook stated.

"What game? There's nothing there," Regina argued with him.

"If he said there's a map on this parchment, then there is."

"If I just stop denying who I really am, then we'll be able to read this thing."

"How do we know Pan won't use it to lead us straight into a trap?" Regina questioned.

"Because he doesn't need to," Hook told her. "This whole island is his bloody trap."

Charming and Snow came back from trying to track down Pan.

"There's no sign of him anywhere," Charming announced.

"Any luck with the map?" Snow asked.

"Don't hold your breath," Regina answered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katherine asked.

"Don't you see what he's doing? Every second we spend talking about this, is another second we're not looking for my son," Regina vented.

"You got a better idea?" Katherine asked, staring at the map.

"Magic."

Charming sighed.

"If there's a lock on there, I'll find a way around it," Regina said, before approaching.

"Pan said it had to be me," Katherine reminded her.

"I'd listen to Katherine, luv. Breaking Pan's rules would be unwise," Hook told Regina.

"Sadly, I agree with the pirate," Charming replied.

Hook turned and looked at Charming with a smile.

"I'm winning you over. I can feel it."

"And your magic doesn't exactly have a gentle touch, Regina," Snow told her.

"Use it on the map, it might blow up in all our faces," Charming warned.

"Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take," Regina said, approaching Charming.

"Well, I'm not," Katherine interjected, standing up and looking at Regina. "If I'm the one who's supposed to figure out this thing, I need to do what Pan said."

"Great," Regina commented.

"She'll get there," Snow assured her. She then approached Katherine. "Hey, don't give up. If he's playing a game, you can win."

Katherine was sitting on a rock and Snow and Charming sat on a rock of their own, watching, as Katherine held the map.

"My name is Katherine Pierce," she stated, as she tried to make it work.

"I wager the solution to Pan's riddle is a bit more complicated than that," Hook said, as he walked around.

Regina stood with her back up against a tree, waiting.

"Don't hold anything back," Snow encouraged her.

"I'm The Savior. I'm the sheriff of Storybrooke."

Regina looked at her.

"That election was a sham. Are we really doing this?"

"Don't you think maybe that you're leaving some things out?" Snow asked, trying to help her out.

"I came to Storybrooke and broke the curse." She looked at the paper, but nothing showed up. She sighed, realizing now that she was supposed to dig as deep as she could. "Let's try this again," she stated. She didn't like people knowing who she really was, but she knew that this time she had to say it. "My name is Katerina Petrova from Bulgaria. I gave birth to Nadia in 1490 whom my father tore from my arms, because she was born out of wedlock and my discretions weren't allowed at that time. I was banished from Bulgaria and ended up in England, where I met Trevor whom introduced me to Elijah and Klaus at a ball on Klaus' birthday. I'm a doppelganger and Klaus needed to sacrifice me in the ritual to break the curse his mother set upon him 1,000 years ago. I found out what his intentions were and what he wanted from me and I ran like hell and then turned myself into a vampire. I fled back to Bulgaria on horseback, only to find my entire village, including my parents, slaughtered in only a way that I knew Klaus did it for revenge for me running from him. Meeting Klaus ruined my life, but Elijah and I fell in love and he protected me the best he could for 500 years until a few years ago, when he left me for Klaus, yet again, instead of going off and living a happy life with me. Because he left and because I took my rage out on my doppelganger, I got the cure for vampirism shoved down my throat which turned me into a human, and I was reunited with Nadia shortly before she was bitten by Tyler Lockwood and died around the same time I died. I'm all of those things, but I've also killed many alike and tortured and I'm very good at seeking vengeance and defeating my enemies. I'm also descended from Travelers."

After she said all of that, the map began to appear before them all.

"It worked," Charming stated.

"You did it," Snow said.

"Now let's go find my son," Regina said.

"So it appears we will be venturing into the Dark Jungle after all," Hook stated, when they all looked at the map.

"You mean the place you told us never to set foot?" Katherine replied.

He looked at her. "That's the one."

"Well, Katherine, you said you wanted to be the leader? Lead," Regina encouraged her.

Katherine led them through the jungle, Regina at her side, the others following.

When they got to a certain area, they all stopped.

"He's here. Pan. I can smell his smugness," Regina stated.

Charming went around Regina and Katherine. He then took his sword out.

"Shall we? While we still have the element of surprise on our side?"

Regina followed after Charming, while Katherine stood there for a minute more.

Hook went to stand by Katherine.

"Careful. He may look like a boy, but he's a bloody demon," Hook warned her. Then he walked passed her.

Snow stood by her.

"Hey. We can do this. You can do this," she assured her.

Soon, they entered where they should've seen the boys at, or at least Pan.

"No one's here," Snow stated, and stopped walking, while everyone else continued to walk into the clearing.

"Guys, hold on. Is that…," she began, when she saw someone dressed like Henry, thinking it was him.

Everyone else stopped, seeing him as well.

"Henry?" Katherine said, being cautious, as she approached, but backed away and stopped, the others behind her, when he turned around and it wasn't him.

"Hello, Katherine," Pan greeted, once he'd turned around to look at them all.

"Where the hell is Henry? Give him to me."

"Sorry. Can't."

Pan was a distance away, up a hill by some bushes, as his boys appeared with torches and other things.

Charming readied his sword for the fight and Hook looked around at all the boys, and, seeing some of them with bows and arrows, warning them, saying, "Watch out for their arrows. They're laced with dreamshade." Snow readied her bow and arrow, ready for a fight as well, and Katherine had the sword still that used to be Neal's, but she was also ready for a magical fight just in case. Regina was ready for a magical fight herself.

A moment later, the fight began. Charming and Snow fought side by side as always, while Regina used her magic against some of them, and Hook sword fought with one of the boys.

"It's been a while, Captain," the boy greeted.

"Not long enough," Hook replied. "Do you remember what I did to Rufio? Well, it's a far worse fate for you."

Charming almost got him by an arrow, but Katherine intervened, so she got hit in the side with it.

After a few minutes, Pan called the boys off and they all left.

Katherine watched them leave from where she was on the ground. Then, after a moment, she pulled the arrow out of her side, tossing it to the ground. Then she got to her feet, pretending to be okay, even though she knew that Hook knew that she wasn't. Then they all continued to be guided by the map.

After the rest of them started walking ahead of her and Hook, Hook took out his flask and she gave him a look.

"Is rum your solution for everything?"

"Well, it certainly doesn't hurt."

He took a drink and then handed it to her and she took a drink as well.

She walked around him and away from him, once she'd handed him his flask back.

Hook watched her leave.

Later, she was picking berries, when Pan found her.

"Congratulations. You did it. Don't pick the blue ones. You don't mind if I call you the Lost Girl, do you?"

"I don't care what you call me. It won't stop me from finding Henry."

Pan chuckled.

"Oh, I'm counting on that. There's a reason I tested you."

"Really? And what reason would that be?"

"You haven't forgiven Klaus for killing your mother and Elijah for abandoning you."

"Don't deny it. You haven't. That's good. Really good. Because when you find Henry, you'll understand him."

She stood up quickly and turned around to look at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He hasn't forgiven his real mother for abandoning him. By the time you get to him, he won't want to leave this island."

"We'll see," she replied. She picked up the coconut bowl of berries and began to walk away.

Later, after delivering the berries to them, she hid behind a tree and lifted up her shirt, since she was feeling some pain, and saw the aftermath of the dreamshade laced arrow.

 **Ch.46: Quite A Common Fairy**

They were walking through the jungle silently, until Charming started talking to Snow.

"Hey. You need a break?"

"No, I'm good."

"In this heat, you shouldn't overtax yourself."

She chuckled.

"So, you need a break."

"No, I'm good."

"Did David Nolan let himself go?"

"Does it look like he let himself go?"

Snow chuckled.

"How much further?" Regina asked.

"We should be getting close to Pan's lair. Going in a straight-line course…" She pulled out the map and the red x disappeared to say that it was behind them.

"Son of a…How is it now behind us?" Regina questioned.

"How could that be?" Snow asked.

"You got us lost," Regina accused.

"No, she didn't," Hook said. "It's the camp. Pan's moving it."

"He's playing tricks on us," Charming realized.

"If Pan's camp keeps moving, how are we gonna find Henry?" Katherine questioned. "So this whole trek has been for nothing."

"I told you walking was idiotic," Regina said. "If we can just use some magic, we can materialize in the camp and grab Henry."

"We don't know where the camp is," Snow reminded her. "Have you even been listening?"

"Pan'll have shields against magic," Hook told her. "I fear such an attempt would end in your death. And more importantly, mine. Which is why we're walking."

"Well, then what's your idea? How are we going to find it?"

"By using someone he trusts."

"Who?" Charming asked. "Because I'd guess he certainly doesn't trust you."

"A fairy who lived here when I was about. She might still be on the island. She'd be an inside source, knows all about the camp and can get us in. She might even have some pixie dust left. Perhaps we could fly in."

"You mean fairy dust?" Katherine asked.

"No, pixie dust," Charming corrected. "It's stronger. Like nuclear fairy dust."

"Wait. A fairy…Tinkerbell?"

"Oh, you know her?" Hook asked.

"Every kid in the world knows her," she told him.

Regina realized that Katherine was right about who the fairy was and said, "It's a bad idea." She didn't want to come face to face with her, because of what had happened between them long ago right before she'd become the Evil Queen. When Tinkerbell had come to her and given her a second chance at a happy ending, only for Regina to never walk through the door and meet him. She was afraid that after what had happened between her and Tinkerbell, the fairy wouldn't help them saved Henry and get out of there alive. "Mark my words. This Tinkerbell is not going to save us."

*Flashback*

After Regina fell from the balcony, Tinkerbell used magic to stop her from falling and the next day, they sat down at a table outside and ate, as they talked.

"I can help people find what they need," Tinkerbell told her.

"And what do I need?"

"You don't even know? Regina, that's so sad. Love. You need love."

She chuckled. "You're gonna help me find another soulmate?"

"It is possible to find love again. I've never seen pixie dust fail. It will find you your perfect match. If you let it, it will find your happy ending."

"My happy ending looks like Snow's head on a plate."

"No! Aren't you at least curious? What if I can do what I say?"

"Well, then I'd say that's real magic."

"Well, I'm a fairy. You might wanna try believing in me."

*End*

*Present*

They were walking through the jungle again.

"Katherine, there might be another way. Magic."

"Didn't we just go through this?" Katherine questioned Regina.

"Not my magic. Our magic."

"I'm not interested. One thing I've learned is it always comes with a price."

"Well, sometimes not using it comes with a price, too," Regina replied. "I bet, you and I combined, are strong enough to overpower Pan."

"What if we're not? I'm not gonna take a chance on that. We're talking about Henry's life."

Charming and Snow realized they weren't following, and came back to see what was going on.

"I'm aware of that," Regina replied.

"Look, I know you don't like this plan, but let's just see it through. Let's at least see if we can find Tinkerbell."

"And you think it's the best plan because your boyfriend came up with it?"

"My boyfriend? Hook?" Katherine questioned, a little shocked.

"What's your problem?" Snow asked.

"Sorry. I'm…just worried about Henry," Regina apologized.

They continued walking and soon they got deeper.

Katherine was the last one now and Hook followed at her side.

"So, you're gonna tell them?" he questioned. "I saw what happened to you. Let me see."

She took a glance to make sure that the rest of them weren't close enough to see.

"Fine. If you insist."

She pulled up her shirt enough to see the stab wound, which shown some veins around it, and Hook raised the lantern he was holding enough to see.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She pulled her shirt back down.

"About what? It's not your fault. Besides, I've gotta change my lifestyle now that I'm not a vampire anymore. I used to say better you die than I, but now I've changed somewhat. Besides, I didn't want anything to happen to anyone back there and I still don't. I was saving Charming. Times like these, It's best Nadia didn't live to see this happen to me. So, how long do you think I have?"

"Days. Maybe weeks. You won't live to see summer, that's for sure. You have to tell them."

"No. At least not yet. Not until we save Henry. Then we can all worry about me when we head home."

She walked passed him.

After they got deeper and closer to where Tinkerbell lived, Regina stopped and set the lantern down on a log. Katherine saw, so she went over to her.

"Hey."

"Hey," Regina replied.

"You're falling behind. Hook thinks her place is right up ahead. Come on."

"If she still lives there," Regina replied. "You go waste your time searching and I'll wait."

Katherine approached to stand not far from her.

"What did you do to her?"

"What? Why would you assume I did something?"

"You met her before, right? In the enchanted forest? What did you do? Kill her brother? Steal her halo?"

"She's not an angel. Okay. We have a complicated history."

"I knew it."

"You don't need to know the details. But if she sees me, she won't help. And if she is the way in, well then, trust me, my staying out of her sight is probably best for Operation Henry."

Regina sat down beside the lantern.

"Operation Henry?"

"That's what I've been calling it in my head because…"

"He'd call it that," Katherine ended for her.

"He'd have a better name," Regina said. "But it's the best I can do."

"Okay. We'll get her and come get you."

"No, don't bother. It's better if we never see one another. And if you don't find her, keep going. Just get Henry. Don't worry about Tinkerbell."

"What the hell did you do to her?" she wanted to know.

"What I always do."

Although she didn't want to, Katherine walked away to leave her there. She knew Regina was counting on them to save Henry, even if Regina couldn't do it herself.

*Flashback*

Tinkerbell led Regina to outside a cavern with the pixie dust, which had shown who her happiness could be if she gave it a chance.

"Inside here lies the beginning of your happiness," Tinkerbell informed her. "All the pain in your past will be just that, the past."

"I just need a moment," Regina told her.

"You're nervous. I get it. But look. There he is. The guy with the lion tattoo."

"That's him?" she questioned, looking through the window.

"Pixie dust doesn't lie. Come on. This is your chance at love and happiness. A fresh start with no baggage. You can let go of all the anger that weighs you down. Go get him."

"Okay. Okay. I can do this. I can be happy." Regina gave a smile at that last part.

"I know you can. Go."

Tinkerbell left.

Regina opened the door, but she never walked in to meet him, because she was too afraid, so she fled away from the tavern and down the street.

*End*

*Present*

Hook went up the ladder, once they reached the place where he thought Tinkerbell was living at.

"No one's home. Come on up."

Charming came up after Hook.

"Where would it be?"

"She wouldn't leave dust just lying around, mate. It's not here. Promise. I'm sorry," Hook said.

"It's pretty bare," Katherine commented, coming up the ladder next.

"You'd think a tree house would be more cheery," Snow said, as she came up the ladder last. Snow then took a look around and said, "Because it's just a place to sleep."

"What would you know about that?" Katherine asked.

"I didn't always have a canopy bed in a palace. I had a place like this, too, once."

"You did?"

"A tree stump, when I was running from the Queen. Believe it or not, I understand this Tinkerbell. The real question is, why does she have a ladder? Fairies have wings."

Charming picked something up.

"Guys? I found something. It's a handkerchief."

Snow took it from Charming.

"That's Regina's. How'd it get here?"

"She was tracking us. Watching Regina," Katherine realized.

"But if she's been watching her…," Snow began.

"Then we're in the wrong place," Hook finished for her.

"Regina," Charming said, realizing she was in danger.

Everyone started going down the ladder, one after the other.

Regina woke up in a cave with Tinkerbell waiting for her there.

"About time you woke up," Tinkerbell greeted her. "I've been looking forward to this chat for quite some time."

"Look, you don't know why I'm here," Regina said.

"Oh, I know exactly why you're here. You're trying to find your son."

"And I take it by the restraints, you're not helping?"

"Hell, no. You're the last person I'd ever help after how you burned me."

"Burned you? You're the one who interfered in my life."

"And threw away my own in the process."

"So what do you want from me? To kill me? You think it's that easy? Whatever you knocked me out with, I can tell it's not magic. Maybe poppies. But they're wearing off. And since you had to resort to that, it only means one thing. You don't have magic." Regina got to her feet. "But I do." She got her hands free from the rope.

Tinkerbell grabbed an arrow and held it to her, close to her neck.

"I know. But even magic can't stop this. Ever hear of dreamshade?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"How the hell did you get like this?"

"I met you."

"Okay. You want to kill me? I can make it easier."

"What are you…?" Tinkerbell began.

Regina pulled out her own heart.

"You wanna kill me? Oh, don't let the poison do it. You should do it." When she didn't take the heart, Regina added, "Go ahead. Crush it."

"You think I won't take it?"

"No, I'm counting on it."

"Show me who you are, Tinkerbell."

"Gladly."

Tinkerbell took her heart from her and set the arrow down. She then squeezed the heart a little.

"Do you know what you cost me?"

Tinkerbelle began to walk away and it dawned on Regina.

"Your wings."

"Why?" Tinkerbell asked, her back turned.

"Why what? Why did I hand over my heart?"

"No. Why did you lie? Because I've been over it a million times, and that spell worked!" She turned around to look at her again. "You never went in. It's the only explanation. Why couldn't you just go through that door and meet your soulmate? Was being happy such a terrible fate?"

"Yes. Yes, it was. You're right. I never went in. I was afraid. I didn't…You said I can let go of the anger that was weighing me down, and suddenly it felt like without it, I'd just float away. That anger was all I had. What would I be without it?" Regina admitted.

"Happy."

"Weak," Regina corrected her.

"And look what good it did to you. That strength you gained. 'Cause I'm holding your heart in my hand and I'm not hearing one reason not to squeeze it into ash."

Tinkerbell now stood just inches in front of her again.

"Alright. You want a reason? Here you go. You think I was afraid? You think I did the wrong thing? Well, fairy, right now, you're making the same choice. I picked revenge over hope and you're holding the result. A small, hard, dark heart. If you make the same choice I did, then what you're looking at is your own future. I'm not going to tell you what to do. The choice is yours. Kill me, or act like the fairy you are."

"You said I was a terrible fairy."

"Well, then prove me wrong. Pick hope over anger. Choose love and help me get my son back."

"You love your son?"

"Very much. With Henry, I finally got something right. Don't you want to be able to say the same thing?"

"It's too late for me."

"Only if you kill me."

"I won't kill you. But I won't help you either. Besides, it's probably too late. He's been with him too long. "

She handed Regina her heart back and then walked away.

When Tinkerbell left the cave, Katherine and Hook and Charming and Snow came into view, all with their weapons ready.

Tinkerbell put her hands up in surrender, in front of her.

"Where's Regina?" Katherine asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Tinkerbell asked, confused.

"An angry former mother and sort of friend to Regina and ex vampire. I wouldn't peeve me off anymore if I were you. Let's just say in my world, I may have been just as bad or worse than Regina when I was a vampire, if we're counting who killed and tortured the most people. I may be reformed, but I'm still learning to control my temper. Now where is she?"

Regina came out of the cave after putting her heart back inside herself, when she heard the commotion.

"I'm fine."

"You mind lowering those? You may stick me, but I'll take you down with me," Tinkerbell said.

"She's okay. She's not gonna hurt us. Just stand down," Regina assured them.

"But is she going to help us?" Hook inquired.

"Well, look who the Queen dragged in. Hello, Hook," Tinkerbell greeted.

"Lady Bell," he greeted back.

"She's not gonna help us," Regina answered.

"Why not?" Katherine asked.

"Tink, after all we've been through together, a little assistance?" Hook asked her nicely.

"She doesn't have any magic," Regina informed Hook.

"No pixie dust?" Charming inquired.

"Not even her wings," Regina informed them.

"How?" Katherine questioned, though she assumed it had to do with something from the past Tinkerbell and Regina shared.

"I guess people just stopped believing in me," Tinkerbell replied. "And even if I wanted to help you, he's too powerful."

"But you know where Pan is?" Snow asked.

"Sure. But it won't do you a bit of good."

"Let us be the judge of that. Does he trust you?"

"Can you get us inside his compound?" Katherine asked.

"Maybe. Why should I help you?"

"Because I believe in you," Snow replied.

"Just get us inside and we'll take care of things from there," Katherine encouraged her.

"And what's in it for me? Other than a death sentence from Pan when you're gone with your boy."

"You can come with us," Katherine offered.

"That's right. A home," Snow said. "That is what you want, isn't it?"

"Okay. Listen closely," Tinkerbell replied. "Pan trusts me. He'll let me in. And maybe, just maybe, I'll leave a way open for you. But you've only got one shot, so you better have a good plan."

"Thank you. We will," Katherine assured her.

"Come with us to our camp. We'll figure it out," Snow offered.

At their camp, Hook and Katherine were sitting beside each other and Snow and Charming were by each other as well.

Tinkerbell sat by Regina whom was sitting against a tree.

"Did you ever go back and find him? The man with the lion tattoo?" Tinkerbell wanted to know.

"No."

"Unreal. Do you know how selfish that is?"

"It's a lot of things. But how is it selfish?" Regina replied.

"Because you didn't just ruin your life. You ruined his," Tinkerbell informed her.

 **Ch.47: Nasty Habits**

After some rocks and stuff were used to symbolize the camp and compound, they began making a plan.

"Tinkerbell says there are sentries positioned across the front, which is why we're gonna come in through the back entrance, here," Katherine said, using a stick as a pointer. "She's gonna talk her way in. Once she makes sure the coast is clear, then we're going to sneak on in."

"You'll still have to deal with any Lost Boys once you're inside," Tinkerbell reminded her.

"I think we can handle a few children with pointy sticks," Regina told the fairy.

"It's not the sticks you need to worry about. It's the poison they're dipped in."

When the fairy said that last part, Katherine looked over at Hook whom looked back.

"Dreamshade. Hook warned us," Snow said.

"Good. Because one nick and you'll spend the last of your days—," Tinkerbell began, but Katherine cut her off.

"Poison sticks equal death. We got it."

"Now, when can we put this rescue mission into action?" Charming questioned, standing up.

"I'm ready to go," Tinkerbell replied. "Just as soon as you tell me the exit plan. You do have an exit plan, don't you?"

"It was more of a last-minute trip," Snow told her.

"If you don't have a way off this island, then none of this matters," Tinkerbell replied.

Regina stood up.

"We'll figure it out."

"You'll figure it out? No one comes and goes from this place unless he allows it. This is a waste of time."

"When it comes to family, we always find a way," Charming assured her.

"You don't get it. Here, let me show you something." She dug into her bag and pulled out a watch. "You know what this is?"

"Yeah, a watch," Katherine answered.

"I got it from the person that brought your son here for Pan."

Katherine stood up.

"Greg? Where is he? Why did he give you that?"

"I got it off his body. Spent half the night cleaning the blood off it. This is what Pan does to people he employs. What do you think he's gonna do to you? I'm not sticking my neck on Pan's chopping block without a way off this island. You figure that out, you know where I live."

The fairy began to leave.

"Where the hell is she going?" Snow asked.

"I'll get her, bring her back," Charming said.

"She's right. If there's anything I've learned, it's you never break in somewhere unless you know the way out."

"What about you, Hook?" Charming asked. "You got off this island before."

"Yes, aboard my ship. Which would require some form of magic to create a portal. Which I got from Pan in a deal I don't think he's ready to repeat."

"So no one's ever left the island without Pan's permission," Regina stated.

"One man," Hook said. "Neal."

"How?" Katherine asked.

"Maybe we can find out," Hook replied, and began walking, and everyone followed him.

Rumple found a couple of the Lost Boys that were guarding the nearby camp and approached.

"Stop. In the name of Pan."

"I don't take orders," Rumple said, and used some magic to knock them out. Then he picked up one of their sticks.

Hook led them to a huge rock with vines around it and a grass hill not far away. There were also a lot of trees around.

"What is this supposed to be?" Regina asked.

"So, what, Neal swung out of Neverland on a vine?" Katherine asked.

"If someone would be kind enough to lend me a hand," Hook said. "What do you say, Savior?"

"I'll do it," Charming said.

After a few pulls, part of the rock opened.

"Ladies first," Hook said.

Katherine went in first and then Snow. Then Hook and Charming did.

"Hook, what is this place? What are we doing here?" Katherine asked.

When a torch was lit, Katherine saw the drawings on the wall.

"Neal. This is where he lived," she realized.

"Aye," Hook replied. "Baelfire spent some time in Neverland as a boy. This was his home."

"So, you think he may have left a clue as to how he escaped from here?" Snow asked.

"Let's hope so," Hook said. "Or we'll be lost, just like he was."

When Felix had woken up, he went to Pan and informed him on what happened, which upset Pan.

"Anything important?" Hook asked her.

"I can't tell yet. I didn't know he liked drawing."

"He got it from his mother," Hook informed her.

"I'm hoping Neal left something useful in the details of one of these. Maybe a map or some kind of clue. What about you? Any luck?"

"No potted bean plant or swirling vortex under the rug if that's what you mean. Maybe no rug at all. There are other drawings on the far wall but, as far as I can tell, that's all they are. Probably just a way to pass the time and keep occupied."

"You knew him pretty well, didn't you?"

"We spent some time together. You all right there, Pierce?"

"I'm fine. Looks like you're right. They're just a bunch of pictures." She walked over to where Snow and Charming where. "What's all this?"

"Uh, just some cups and bowls he fashioned from things he found here," Snow answered her.

"I don't know how great a cup this coconut can make," Charming said. "It's filled with holes."

"Uh, maybe it's a tiny colander?" Snow suggested.

"Yes, because pre-teen Baelfire probably made lots of pasta," Regina said.

Katherine took it and began examining it.

"Hold on. Hook, snuff out that torch."

She put the coconut back together that was lit.

"Am I supposed to be impressed that you made a night light?" Regina asked.

"Look up," Katherine said.

Snow looked up and noticed it.

"Stars."

"It's a map," Hook realized.

"To where?" Charming asked.

"Home," Katherine answered.

"How could you be so sure it's a map?" Snow asked Hook.

"There was a short time in Neverland when Baelfire was aboard my ship. I taught him to navigate using the stars. What you're looking at is the fruit of my labors."

"Then you can read it," Regina said.

"Sadly, no," Hook said.

"I thought you just said you taught him how," Charming said.

"Yes, but I also taught Neal something else. The key to being a pirate. Secrecy. The best captains conceal their maps in code. And he was an apt pupil."

"So, you're saying the only person who can read this map is Neal?" Snow asked.

"Which means the only person who can read it is dead," Katherine stated.

Katherine walked out of the cave and through the jungle to think things through.

Rumple used magic to make everyone fall asleep and then used squid ink on Peter Pan, before taking Henry with him, rescuing him from Pan.

 **Ch. 48: Good Form**

Katherine was back in the cave with them. She took a pillow off and was about to take off a makeshift mattress.

"Need a hand, luv?"

She looked at him.

"Is that a joke?"

"No, I was being serious."

He helped her take it off.

When it was off a piece of rock, she saw markings. He'd marked how long he was on the island. She saw that he'd stopped counting how long though, and realized why.

"He lost hope."

"You got all that from scribbles?" Regina asked, coming over.

"I got that because I may have never been trapped on this island, but I was trapped inside a tomb once. Plus, I know what it's like to give up hope."

"You think the same thing's happing to Henry," Charming assumed.

"Pan said that it would."

"Hey. We're going to rescue him," Charming assured her.

"Yeah, I know that. And you know that. But Henry doesn't know that. Pan wants him to lose faith."

"So what? You want to send him a message?" Regina asked. "Because I haven't seen a Neverland post office. What are you suggesting?"

"We take a page from Pan. And we start being clever. We need to send a simple sign. A sign that we're coming."

"With Lost Boys running around trying to kill us all?" Regina questioned.

"Yeah, maybe it's time we use that to our advantage," Snow agreed.

"How?" Regina asked.

"Follow me. I'll show you," Snow said.

Katherine started to follow, but Hook got in her way.

"Pierce."

"What? We're wasting time."

"I just wanted to let you know that I, too, know what it feels like. To lose hope."

"I know what this is. This. You, you know, trying to bond with me. So save your breath. I'm not in the mood," she told him, before walking around him and following Snow out of the cave.

"Let me give you a bit of advice, Hook. She's never going to like you," Charming told him.

"Is that so?"

"Well, how could she? You're nothing but a pirate," Charming said, before leaving the cave to follow the others out.

While Snow and Katherine made makeshift ropes, Hook sat on a rock, watching, and drinking some rum.

"A trap? That's your plan?" Regina questioned Snow, as Katherine looked over at Hook.

"The Lost Boys wanna come after us, we need to go after them."

"You really think a Lost Boy is gonna betray Pan?" Hook asked.

"Thanks for the advice," Snow said. "David, we need more vine."

Katherine got up.

"I'll do it." As she began to leave, she told Hook to come with her.

"Why's that?" Hook questioned her, not liking the plan they were creating.

"Because we need more rope," she replied.

"If the lady insists," Hook said, and then left with her.

As they walked, Katherine grabbed some more vines for rope, along the way. Despite everything, she'd rather be out here with Hook than anyone else she'd ever known or met in her lifetime. At least he was noble and would never leave her unless she asked him to. Besides, she didn't want the others to know quite yet that she was dying. Sure, dying sucked, but she'd done it before once as a human. Surely, it wouldn't be too bad of a death. Plus, she always managed to come back one way or another.

About half way or so away from the camp, Hook saw that she didn't look well.

"Don't take this the wrong way, luv, but you're not looking too good."

"Well, I am dying," she replied to him.

Suddenly, everything went black for her.

Hook caught her from hitting the ground and then gently layed her down.

"Katherine. Katherine," he called. He gently patted her cheek. He pulled out his flask of rum, when she didn't wake up, and poured some down her throat.

She woke up.

"Thanks. I think I'll be okay now."

She began to get up and he helped her.

"No, you're not going to be okay. I thought you had days left," Hook said.

She sat against a nearby tree.

"Let me see," Hook said.

She pulled up her shirt to show him.

"The dreamshade has almost reached your heart," he informed her. "It's hours now. You have to tell them."

"No. Not when I can still help them save Henry," she stubbornly replied.

"At least take it easy, or what little time you have will be less."

She saw something on the ground and picked it up.

"What's that?" Hook asked.

"It's a military insignia. Jones. You know him?"

She handed it to Hook whom took it.

"Aye. He was my captain. And my brother. We voyaged to this infernal island a long time ago. This was on the strap of his satchel. My brother lost it during a duel with Pan. It must have washed down with the rains from the storm that wrecked the Jolly Roger."

"From where?" she wanted to know.

"Dead Man's Peak. I thought it was gone forever."

"What was gone?"

"It's too dangerous."

"What's too dangerous? If you know something that can help us, don't hold back."

"If this insignia survived all these years, then perhaps my brother's satchel did as well. And inside that satchel is a sextant that can help us decode Neal's star map that can get us off this island."

"Then let's go see if it survived."

"You'll die before you can get back," Hook told her.

"Then come with me and make sure the sextant makes it back to them. Be a hero, for once."

After agreeing with her, they went back to camp and told them that they were going to go find the sextant and the others could deliver the message.

After leaving, Hook and Katherine had a chat.

"At least you got to say goodbye. Most people don't get that luxury," Hook stated to her.

"You lost someone, didn't you?"

"This is where we ascend," Hook said, as if she hadn't asked him a question. "I'll climb ahead and throw down the rope."

"It was your brother, right?" Katherine questioned. "I never had a brother, but I know what it's like to lose someone more than you know."

Soon enough, they were both on the top, but Pan beat them to the satchel.

When they weren't far from the dreamshade plant, she collapsed again, though. This time the dreamshade had traveled all the way up to the side of her face.

"Bloody hell."

Hook went over and, without getting cut by the plant, used his sword to cut through it. He then used his canteen to put the water in it that was special. It was the water that could heal any illness. Once the water was in the canteen, he went over and knelt by her.

"Katherine, wake up," he called to her.

When she woke up, she saw Hook with a canteen.

"In this canteen is the water that will stop the Dreamshade that will save your life."

"That's why you brought me up here," she realized.

"Yes. There's something you need to know first. Because its power comes from the island, once you drink this water, you can never leave Neverland."

"Then I don't want it. I'm not spending my life on this island. I'd rather die," she replied. "Let's just get back to the others, rescue Henry, and then we'll find a way to save my life or we won't."

She used the nearby rock to help herself up. Then she used magic to conceal the dreamshade that was on her face and they headed back to the others.

Once they were with the others, they informed them that Pan got to it first.

When they were alone, Hook said, "Perhaps gratitude is in order now," and gave her a look.

"Okay. Thanks for everything that you've done so far and for attempting to save me."

"Is that all your life is worth?" he asked, wanting more of a thanks from her.

"You couldn't handle it."

"Perhaps you're the one who couldn't handle it," he replied.

Since she knew what he was wanting, she went for it and they kissed.

When she pulled away, Hook said, "That was…"

She stepped away.

"A one-time thing."

 **Ch.49: Ariel**

They were back at camp, Regina trying to teach Katherine how to magically make a fire.

"Focus," Regina instructed. She stood up. "Concentrate."

"It's kind of hard when you're talking in my ear."

"And when the wind blows, or it's raining, or someone's shooting arrows at you. Yes, concentration's hard. That's the point. Find your anger and use it to focus."

"No. There has to be a way without needing magic," she replied.

"You're such a pathetic waste of ability."

"And you're a terrible teacher," Katherine replied to her.

"Do you smell that?" Regina asked her.

Katherine looked back at the logs to see a fire. She hadn't known that she'd found her anger enough to light a fire.

"Smoke," Regina added, walking away.

Charming sighed, where he sat by Snow by a tree on a log.

"This is a bad idea."

"She has it in her. She should learn to use it. We just have to trust her," Snow replied.

"Yeah. It's not Katherine I don't trust," Charming informed her.

Rumple was in a different part of the island, when Pan appeared in the middle of Rumple trying to see if he could see the future or not.

"You can't see the future here. You can't see the future in a place where time stands still."

"I may not be able to see the future, but I can make one happen," Rumple replied.

"Was that a threat? And here I made you your favorite breakfast. Eggs in a basket. I thought you could use it. You look a little down in the dumps."

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are, Rumple. You've lost your son, Neal."

"What do you want?"

"Well, if you won't eat, then I will. I'm just trying to point out the silver lining in your cloudy life."

"That by killing you, all our troubles end?"

"We both know that's not going to happen. Because the only way to do that is for you to die, too. You can go. Leave the island."

"I don't think so."

"Even if you succeeded, he'll never forgive you."

"You don't know that."

"Have you forgiven your father? You see my point? Back to that silver lining then. You have a nice girl waiting for you back in Storybrooke. Belle, is it? Stop this foolishness and go back to her. Make a new start. She looks fertile, maybe a new child? You and I both know the only future for you. Assuming you want to live."

After the speech, he left.

After Regina got tired of waiting around with everyone, she went to go find Rumple.

When she did, he was talking to someone that looked like Belle, but the Belle that they'd known before Storybrooke.

Regina did some magic and it was revealed to be Pan's shadow.

"Did you really think that was Belle?"

"What do you care?" Rumple questioned.

"I care, because I've been camping with the Charmings for a week," Regina replied.

 **Ch. 50: Dark Hollow**

Because Regina had changed his mind in dying to defeat fan, he and Regina went to the ocean and Regina used a seashell to call upon an old acquaintance. A mermaid named Ariel. She gave Ariel her voice back and they asked her to go to Storybrooke to get something to help defeat Pan. Ariel agreed and Rumple told her that since they couldn't tell her what the object was because Pan had eyes everywhere, he told her to find Belle and give her the enchanted flat sea shell. She took it and left to go find Storybrooke and get what was needed, once Regina promised that she could let her have control of her legs whenever she wanted and she could see Eric in Storybrooke.

Hook and Katherine were alone in the jungle, talking, now that they had the plan to get Pan's shadow at a cave where Pan's shadow's victims were forced to stay surrounded by the darkness in there. They were talking about the kiss.

"When I win your heart, Katherine, and I will win it. It won't be because of some trickery. It'll be because you want me."

She looked at him, being quiet about that. He didn't have to win it. She was already falling for him, but she didn't want to, so she didn't say anything. She just kept on walking to the cave.

When they were inside the cave, the lanterns burnt out and then A couple shadows appeared, trying to get at them.

A shadow grabbed Hook whom was against a bark of a tree.

"Hook!"

She grabbed the star candle Neal had made years ago, that they'd brought with them and succeeded in magically lighting it. Pan's shadow then got sucked into it and she closed it, which made the other shadow disappear.

Hook fell to the ground, but he was okay.

When Ariel returned, Rumple took Pandora's box from her and Ariel headed back to Storybrooke to find Eric.

Charming and Snow found Tinkerbelle.

"I was wondering when I'd see you again," she greeted them, a bag of food in hand. "But if you've come to talk me into helping you before you found a way off this island, I still…"

Charming stepped towards her.

"We found one. Or we're about to."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of this "about to."

"Pan's shadow," Snow said, going to stand by Charming. "Katherine went with Hook to capture it. That's our way off the island."

"Capture Pan's shadow?"

"Yeah, I'm not lifting a finger until I see some proof you've actually succeeded."

Katherine and Hook found them.

"We did it. Are you finally ready to do your part, Tink?" Hook said.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

 **Ch.51: Think Lovely Thoughts/Save Henry**

Regina and Rumple soon rejoined the others and they made a plan to destroy Peter Pan.

After Rumple trapped Pan in Pandora's box, they all went home to the Jolly Roger, including the Lost Boys and Wendy whom wanted to have a home. Katherine had offered them a home back in Storybrooke and they'd been willing. Henry was there too, safe.

As the Jolly Roger flew, heading back home, Regina and Tinkerbelle were talking, when the Pixie Dust Wendy had given her, began to glow.

"Apparently, you still have some magic in you," Regina commented.

"What happened?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say for a moment there, you believed," Regina replied.

 **Ch.52: The New Neverland**

It was a beautiful day in Storybrooke. Belle was helping Ariel find her true love, Eric.

"So, if Rumple gave you the right name, he works here," Belle said, once they'd reached the docks where the guy who worked there chopped up fish. "Is that him? Is that Eric?"

"Yes," Ariel replied with a smile. She looked at the way he was chopping up the fish. "Wow. He must really hate me."

"Go on. Go talk to him," she encouraged her.

She approached and he looked and saw her.

"Ariel."

"Eric."

He stopped what he was doing and they kissed.

They stopped, when there was a sound.

"What's that?" Ariel asked.

"He's back," Belle said.

The Jolly Roger landed and when they all left the ship, there was a crowd of people ready to greet them with a welcome home.

Belle hugged Rumple and then pulled away.

"I told you I'd see you again."

"That's the last time I don't listen to you," Rumple replied.

By now, Katherine had already told them about the dreamshade

Later, everyone was celebrating at Granny's.

Once it got late, Regina took Henry home and put him in bed.

The next day, Katherine was eating at Granny's, when Rumple came up and told her that he'd made a cure for the dreamshade, and gave her a vial that had a potion.

Katherine thanked him and then drank it, while Rumple went over to where Belle was sitting on a bar stool.

 **Ch.53: Quiet Minds**

After finding out that someone new was in town whom had flying monkeys, they realized that it was the wicked witch and began searching for her, while Charming had Snow stay home because of the pregnancy.

Regina was walking down a dirt road, when she heard something.

She stopped walking and turned around.

"Show yourself, you winged freak."

A moment later, someone came out of the woods and used a crossbow and arrow to shoot an arrow at her. She caught it in her hand, though.

He put a hand up and began to walk towards her.

"Apologies, m'lady. I thought you were the Wicked Witch."

"And I thought you were a flying monkey."

"I do hope my mistake hasn't cost me my head, Your Majesty."

"So, you know who I am?"

"Your reputation in the enchanted forest precedes you."

"I didn't catch your name."

"Robin of Locksley, at your service."

He held his hand out and she gave him his arrow back.

"The thief?"

"Well, as we're tossing labels around, aren't you technically known as the Evil Queen?"

"I prefer Regina. You think you can bring down the Wicked Witch with sticks?"

"Well, I'm certainly going to try."

"I'm afraid we're too late. She's long gone."

"Well, perhaps she left a trail."

"I was hoping the same thing."

"Well, then, you've got yourself a partner."

She began to walk away from him.

"I don't remember asking for one."

"You didn't."

She stopped and turned around to look at him.

"Just don't get in my way."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied.

Someone about what he'd said sounded familiar to her, so she had to ask him, "Have we met before?"

"I doubt I'd ever forget meeting you," he replied.

He began to walk ahead of her and she followed.

*Flashback- Many Years Ago*

Snow and Regina, when Regina was still the Evil Queen but at the time wasn't coming after Snow, were being chased by a flying monkey. Snow wanted to run but Regina brought out a fireball.

"I don't run from monsters. Monsters run from me."

She threw a fireball at it, but it didn't work too well.

Robin showed up and fired an arrow at the monkey and the monkey fled.

Regina and Snow looked to see him.

Robin held out a hand.

"M'Lady," he said to Regina. "You're injured."

"It's Your Majesty and I'm fine."

Snow took his hand and he helped her up, as she said, "Well, I'm thankful for the assistance."

When they found out that the Wicked Witch had stolen her castle, Regina made the decision to go off by herself to defeat her, but Robin followed.

When she saw him, she said, "No."

"No, what?"

"You're not."

"Not coming along? I do believe I am."

She knew he wouldn't be turning back, so the only thing she could say was, "Just don't get in my way."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied.

*Present*

Robin and Regina were inside the farmhouse, Regina looking at the potions that were in the small dining room on a few shelves.

"There's nothing useful here," Regina said. "Unfortunately."

"What? So, none of these contain magical properties?" Robin asked her.

"Well, a good witch covers her tracks. But a better one can uncover them. We'll find her. Just be patient."

"You know, I've heard many stories about the great and terrible Evil Queen, but from this angle, the "evil" moniker seems somewhat of an overstatement. Bold and audacious, perhaps, but not evil," he said, leaning against the table, as she looked at the ingredients.

He stood, as she turned around.

"The name served me well. Fear is quite an effective tool."

He approached so they were just inches apart and seeing a bottle of something liquid, he grabbed it and asked her, "Is this magical?"

"Not exactly. But it is a liquid that can conjure courage, give strength, or even act as a love potion of sorts," she explained. "It's called whiskey. And no, it's not magical. Especially, the next day."

"Oh," he replied.

He grabbed a couple shot glasses.

"You wanna have a drink? Now?" she asked.

"Well, in the last few days, we've woken up in an entirely new realm. I'd say we've earned it, wouldn't you?" he replied, as he poured some whiskey in their shot glasses and then turned around and offered one to her.

She chuckled and when she looked down to take it, she saw his lion tattoo and realized who he was. The guy with the lion tattoo Tinkerbelle had shown was her true love back in the enchanted forest, but whom she'd never met because she'd been afraid to let go of her anger and to fall into love again. She hadn't wanted to get hurt again.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, seeing her staring at his tattoo.

She began to leave.

"Regina!"

After finding Rumple, Katherine learned that the Wicked Witch was Zelena whom wanted what she didn't have.

After Katherine told Charming, they barged into Snow and Charming's place.

"Where's Zelena?" Katherine asked Snow whom was at the table.

"In the bathroom. Why?"

Charming bust into the bathroom, but she wasn't there and the window was open.

"She had to know we were coming," Charming said.

"I'll call Regina. We need to get a protection spell around this apartment right away," Katherine said.

"Does anyone wanna tell me what's going on?" Snow asked.

Charming went over to her.

"I'm just glad you're safe."

"Of course, I'm safe. Why wouldn't I be safe?"

"It's Zelena."

Katherine left the bathroom.

"She's the wicked witch," she informed Snow.

"What? How do you know?"

"Gold told us."

Regina watched from a distance, Robin with his son silently.

 **Ch.54: It's Not Easy Being Green**

Robin was having a drink, while Regina stood not far away at Granny's.

When Tink walked in and saw his tattoo, she went over to Regina.

"It's the lion tattoo. It's what was prophesized. He's your soul mate."

"I know. I saw it yesterday."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Well, right now I have better things to do than to gossip about boys."

Robin went over to where they were and Tinkerbell stepped away to stand next to her.

"Care for a drink?" Robin asked, a few shot glasses with a drink in them in hand.

Tink took one.

"I do hope I didn't upset you yesterday," Robin told Regina.

She didn't know what to say, so she instead introduced them. "Uh, Robin Hood. Tinker Bell. Tinker Bell, Robin Hood."

They set their drinks down and shook hands.

"I've been wanting to meet you for a very long time," Tink told him.

"And no, you didn't upset me," Regina assured him. "I just found a clue trail that needed to be followed, one that didn't lead anywhere. I don't day drink."

"Ah, well, um, perhaps some evening then."

Robin walked away and Tink went to stand in front of her.

"What was that all about? Didn't you learn anything from the last time you screwed this up? If you had been open to the possibility of love when you first saw him, maybe your life wouldn't have turned out so…"

"So" what?" Regina questioned. "How did my life turn out?"

"Why am I even bothering?"

Tink walked off.

A moment later, Zelena entered.

Katherine was going to go after her, but Snow told her not to, so she didn't.

Zelena began to step towards them.

"Don't come any closer," Charming threatened.

"Don't worry. I'm not here for your baby. Not today, anyway."

She began to walk in the other direction.

"Then why are you here?" Regina asked.

Zelena turned to her.

"Now that my cover's blown, I can finally pay a visit to my little sister."

"Who the hell are you talking about?" Regina asked.

"Why, you, of course, Regina."

"I'm an only child."

"Cora lied to you, Regina. I'm your sister. Half, if you want to get technical."

"Why should I believe anything you say?"

"Well, you shouldn't. It's a lot to swallow. Which is why I've brought a gift to help."

Regina chuckled.

"I don't want a gift from you."

"Oh, but you shall have it. My gift to you is this happy, happy day. Use it to dig into our past, Regina. You need to learn the truth and you must believe it. And then meet me on Main Street tonight. Say, sundown."

"And then what?"

"Then I'll destroy you."

"This isn't the Wild West."

"No, dear, it's the Wicked West." She turned and addressed everyone at Granny's. "And I want everyone to be there to see the Evil Queen lose."

"I don't lose," Regina replied.

Zelena chuckled.

"Neither do I. One of us is about to make history. See you tonight, sis."

Everyone watched Zelena leave.

Robin looked at Regina.

Granny poured Regina a shot glass of alcohol, where Regina sat on a bar stool.

Charming paced by Regina.

"And you're sure Cora never said anything about her?"

"I think I would remember if my mother told me she had a love child with a scarecrow."

"It doesn't matter if Zelena is your sister or not. She wants you dead. Any idea why?" Katherine inquired of her.

"I never even met her before today."

"Doesn't mean you didn't do something to peeve her off."

"You did manage to step on a lot of toes back in our world," Tink said.

"Well, none of them were green," Regina replied.

Regina got up and grabbed her jacket, heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Katherine asked.

"To find out exactly what this witch thinks I did to her."

After taking a look around in her vault, Charming and Snow and Katherine with her, Regina found a letter that told that Zelena was indeed her sister.

Regina disappeared to go into the woods to be alone.

She was sitting on a log, reading the letter, when she sensed someone watching her, so she turned around and saw Robin behind a tree that had a hole in it.

"We have to stop meeting like this," he greeted.

"Did the Charmings send you to give me a pep talk? Because I don't do well with pep talks," she said, putting the letting in the pocket of her jacket.

"No, nothing of the sort. After Zelena's threat, I decided to patrol the woods, in case she decided to build the ranks of her simian army," he replied, walking over to her. He sat on the log beside her. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm not a flying monkey, if that's what you mean."

"So, are you going to tell me what's in that letter you've been staring at?"

"What letter?"

"This one," he said, holding the folded letter up. "I'm a pickpocket by trade. I spent many years learning how to rob from magicians."

"You're lucky I'm saving my strength for that witch."

"I think, deep down, you actually want to talk about what's in here."

"What makes you think you know me so well?"

"Well, for one thing, I'd be charred to a crisp by now if you didn't."

"True."

"So, can I read it?"

"I'm not stopping you," she answered him.

After reading it, he commented, saying, "Rather complimentary, I'd say. What is this troubling you?"

"I've seen that letter a hundred times before. In my darkest moments, I'd go to it for comfort. For solace. For a boost when I needed it. Because I…Because I always thought it was about me."

"It's about Zelena," he realized.

"Rumpelstiltskin thinks she's more powerful than I am."

"Why care what that imp thinks?"

"Because if the man who taught me everything I know about magic thinks she is stronger than I am…Then there's no way I can win this fight."

Soon enough, it was sundown and Zelena arrived, but didn't see Regina amongst the audience she'd asked for.

"Well this isn't good for any of you," Zelena commented.

Katherine stepped towards her.

"If you want to fight someone, fight me." She wasn't going to let anything happen to anyone in this town.

Zelena used magic to throw her a bit and she landed on the ground, but was okay.

A moment later, Regina arrived behind Zelena a distance.

"Didn't anyone tell you black is my color?"

Zelena turned around to face her.

"But it looks so much better on me. I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."

"I couldn't let my sister off that easily," Regina replied, standing just inches in front of her.

"So, you've finally accepted me into the family?"

"I've accepted that we shared a mother, yes. But I still have one question. What the hell did I ever do to you?"

"Isn't it obvious? You were born."

Regina gave her a slap across the face.

"I've been waiting to do that all day."

"He should have chosen me," Zelena said.

"Who?"

"Rumpelstiltskin."

"Is that what this is about? You're jealous of me?"

"You still don't realize what you had. You never did. You got everything I ever wanted. And you didn't even deserve it! But I'm going to take it all from you."

Zelena through Regina whom landed on a blue car.

Regina got up and as she walked towards her, she made a fireball appear. She was about to throw it at Zelena, but Zelena used magic to make it disappear, and then began to magically choke Regina.

"You can't beat me, little sis. Everything Rumpelstiltskin taught you, he taught me, too. But I was the better student."

Zelena magically through her again, but this time through the clock tower clock. She then appeared in the clock tower where Regina was.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Kill me," Regina challenged.

"I never said I wanted to kill you. I said I wanted to destroy you. And to do that, I need your heart."

Zelena plunged her hand through Regina's chest, but couldn't feel her heart, so she pulled her hand out and looked at her, shocked.

"Where is it?" Zelena demanded.

"Our mother taught me one thing. Never bring your heart to a witch fight. Something you'd know if she hadn't abandoned you."

Zelena stood up from where she'd been knelt where Regina still was on her knees.

"You haven't won, Regina. I will get your heart. I will get everything you ever had!"

"Not today," Regina replied.

Zelena made a broom appear and road on the broom, away.

Katherine, Snow, and Charming entered the clock tower.

"You alright?" Katherine asked, going up the stairs first.

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" Regina asked, her back against the railing.

When Charming said that they thought she might've defeated her, Regina said, "Hardly."

Regina saw Snow's look, so she said, "Well, don't act so surprised," as Charming helped Regina up. "As it turns out, Zelena wanted my heart. It's a good thing I wasn't stupid enough to bring it with me."

"Any idea why she wants it?" Charming asked.

"Well, she got your courage. And wants my heart. Those are ingredients."

"For what? A curse?" Katherine questioned.

"We're already in Storybrooke," Snow said. "What else can she do to us?"

Regina raced through the woods to where she and Robin had promised to meet after the fight.

"Did the plan work?" Robin asked.

"That depends. Is it still here?"

"Right where you left it."

"Well, then it worked. I just needed to find the one thing I had that Zelena didn't."

"And what exactly was that?" Robin asked, as he unhid her heart from the base of a tree.

"My heartless mother. My sister was right about something. She said I don't always realize what I have right in front of me."

She took her heart from him.

He stood up and looked at her.

"What's that?"

"Just that I didn't always appreciate things." She gave her heart back to him. "Would you mind holding onto this for a bit longer?"

"You're really going to entrust something so valuable to a common thief like me?"

"You can't steal something that's been given to you."

She turned around to leave, when he said, "You still owe me that drink."

"Yes, I suppose I do," she replied with a smile.

 **Ch.55: The Jolly Roger**

Katherine and Charming were trying to figure out how to assemble the recent crib they'd bought for Snow and Charming's baby, but were having difficulty, because part of it wasn't provided for some strange reason.

"This crib is a statement," Charming told Snow, since she wanted to know why they were doing it after the battle between Regina and Zelena had happened. "We're not going to lose another baby."

Regina walked in.

"And thanks to me, you won't." She walked over to the table where she had a box of her potions. "I'm finished."

Charming got up and walked over to her.

"So, did it work? Were you able to put up a new protection spell?"

Regina assured him that she did and that Zelena wouldn't get her hands on the baby.

Regina sat down.

"Any idea why she would want to?" Snow asked.

"The number of spells involving baby parts would surprise you. That greeny is clearly one twisted witch. But as long as we're in here, we're safe."

"We need to stop playing defense and start taking the fight to her," Katherine told her.

"Did you not see how I barely outwitted her yesterday? She has magic. Powerful magic."

"I have magic too," Katherine reminded her. "You've seen me use it. But if we teamed up…If you taught me…"

"Now, why does this feel so familiar?"

"I'm ready this time," she assured her.

Regina chuckled.

"Okay. But if we do this, we do this my way. This isn't drinking stale coffee at a stakeout. This is a way of life. You have to fully commit to it."

"No problem," she replied.

"Meet me in my vault in one hour."

Charming and Snow were taking a walk on the beach, when they heard voices and saw a small crowd and heard someone say that "she just washed up on shore."

Charming and Snow went through the crowd.

"Who washed up on shore?" Snow asked. Then she saw her. "Ariel? Where have you been? We thought you'd been turned into a monkey."

"A monkey? No, I'm a girl that turns into a fish."

"Yeah. We know. But what happened to you?" Charming said.

"I've been under the sea, searching. I've traveled to every realm looking for Prince Eric."

"So, he's missing? For how long?" Charming asked.

"I woke up here like everybody else. I couldn't find him."

"So, you still don't know what happened to him?"

"That's why I came back here. I thought maybe I'd overlooked something. That he'd be here. But obviously, you haven't seen him."

"We're sorry," Snow said. "All we know is that we're up against Regina's sister, the Wicked Witch."

"Do you think she might be responsible for Prince Eric's disappearance?"

"Well, it's not impossible," Snow replied.

They brought Ariel to Granny's, thinking Hook might be able to help, but Hook told Ariel that he'd never heard of Prince Eric.

Regina and Katherine and began talking. Regina made a comment about Hook and Katherine had to ask her, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Seriously?" Regina asked. "You're going to pretend everyone doesn't see the yearning looks and doe-y eyes?"

"I don't yearn."

"Well, maybe. But he does."

That night, Hook caught up with Ariel after Ariel had realized that Eric was dead.

"Ariel, wait!"

She stopped walking and turned around to face him.

He stood in front of her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I have a confession. I haven't been entirely truthful with you, with myself. You and I met before. Our paths crossed."

"What?"

"Eric had been kidnapped by the pirate Blackbeard. You asked me to find him."

"I…I don't understand. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because I was too ashamed. I sacrificed saving your prince for my ship. I am so sorry, Ariel."

She gave him a slap.

"You're a coward! And a monster! You let a man die for your ship? What kind of person does that?"

"The kind who's empty. Who believes that a ship can fill a void left by a broken heart."

"And that makes it okay?"

"No, it doesn't. I would give anything to take it back. To make things right."

"Anything?"

"Yes. Anything."

"How am I supposed to trust a man who no longer believes in love?"

"I still do."

"Then swear to me on it. This woman who broke your heart? Do you still love her?"

"Yes."

"Then swear to me on her name."

"I swear on Katherine Pierce."

She gave a smile and said, "Thank you, Captain. That's exactly what I needed to hear." She did some magic on his lips.

"Bloody hell?" he questioned.

A moment later, the person he thought was Ariel, wasn't. Ariel was now Zelena.

"Zelena? It was you? Where's Ariel?" he questioned, and began to pull his sword out, but she magically through his sword out of his hand.

"Relax. She was never really here. After she left you on your beloved ship, she actually found where Black Beard had been keeping her Prince."

"She found him? How do you know that?"

"My spies are always circling, Captain. Through every realm. Always circling. She found him on Hangman's island. They've been living happily ever after ever since. Don't you love a good twist?"

"I don't understand. Why would you pretend to be her?"

"To corrupt your love. As I said earlier, I've known about your dirty little secret for quite some time. Seen the guilt on your face over the decision you made that day. I knew it haunted you and I knew I could use it."

"Use it for what?"

"When you invoked the name of your love in a selfish plea for redemption, I was able to curse you. More specifically, your kiss. See, the next time your lips touch Katherine Pierce's, all of her magic will be taken. Everything that makes her special, that makes her powerful, that makes her a threat will be gone."

"I won't do it. I'll tell her. And then she'll defeat you."

"Then I'll just have to kill her before you can."

"No, you won't."

"If you could have killed her, you would have. You need her power removed. It's why you didn't kill her when you came to town. For some reason, you can't."

"It no longer matters. Because you are going to remove her powers. I may not be able to hurt Katherine, but I can hurt those around her. Her friends. The child."

"Do not go near them," Hook threatened her.

"Yes, you've become quite fond of the boy, haven't you? I will enjoy turning him into a monkey's breakfast."

"I'll stop you."

"No, you won't. That pointy little hook of yours can scratch a mere mortal. But me? You're out of your depth, pirate. The choice is yours. Kiss Katherine and remove her powers or everyone she loves dies," she replied, before disappearing.

Hook thought about telling them all what really happened, but decided against it and instead told them that Ariel found Eric, after all. He decided to wait later to tell Katherine about what Zelena had done.

 **Ch.56: Bleeding Through**

Regina went into the woods to make sure her heart was still where it was supposed to be.

Robin saw Regina and put Roland down and told him to go with Friar Tuck.

Regina approached.

"What happened?"

"I'm sorry. It's gone."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"Luckily, no. Again, I must apologize. You trusted me, and I let you down."

"No, you didn't. Nothing is worth the loss of a child. But now we have a problem. I'm alive."

"I don't follow."

"She has my heart. And since she hasn't crushed it and killed me, that means she needs it for something far worse."

"Worse than murder? What is she planning?"

"It doesn't matter. Because I'm going to stop her."

Hook and Katherine were at Granny's. They were the only ones there. After practicing on making the cup of hot cocoa disappear from the counter and reappear where Hook sat at a booth, she went and sat in front of him at the booth.

"That's impressive," he commented.

"You wanna see something really impressive?" She twirled her finger in the air a little and his hooked hand appeared on a coat hanger by the door.

"That's bad form, Pierce. Tampering with a man's hook." He got up and went over and put the hook back on.

"Okay, seriously, what is up with you?"

"I apologize for my rudeness. It's a long story. Too long for now." He sat back down and then took a drink of rum from his flask.

"Okay. Obviously something is…," she began, but the door opened suddenly and Belle rushed in and set an opened book in front of her, saying that she found out what Zelena's up to and that they needed to tell Regina and the others.

After meeting together, they found out that Belle found out that Zelena was planning on time traveling to change the past.

After using what had killed Cora to talk to Cora's ghost which failed while everyone was there, everyone except Regina and Snow left. Then Cora found a way to come through and they found out why Zelena was given away. Cora's secret had been given away by Snow's mother that Cora was pregnant before she ever got to marry the prince. The secret was also revealed that she was just a Miller's daughter. So, being selfish, she gave Zelena up to give herself her best chance, because she didn't want to be known as just the Miller's daughter for the rest of her life.

Afterward, Regina sent Cora back to where she came from and Snow helped Regina clean up.

While they did so, they talked.

"Regina, I've seen what life has thrown at you and you still fight against the darkness every single day. Sooner or later, your heart will find its way to happiness. I know you and feel things deeply with or without it. You feel things with your whole soul. Don't let anything hold you back," Snow encouraged her.

Robin was by a fire, when Regina arrived.

He got up and walked over to her.

"My lady. I'm sorry. I let you down. Your heart was lost to Zelena on my watch. But I promise, I will get it back," he said.

Regina didn't say anything. She just kissed him.

He pulled away and looked at her. Then they shared a kiss.

 **Ch.57: A Curious Thing**

Robin and Regina were kissing outside a door in a hallway.

Regina pulled away.

"What do you see in me?"

"Hopefully the same thing you see in me. A second chance. And you're quite a good kisser."

She chuckled and smiled.

"Just wait 'til I actually have my heart back."

"What is that like? I mean, can you…"

"Feel? Yes, I can. Just not fully. It's difficult to explain."

"Then don't." He took her hand and rested it where his heart was. "Use mine for the both of us."

They began to kiss again.

A moment later, the door opened that was a distance away and she pulled away to see her son.

"Henry. Good morning."

"Morning."

He passed by them.

"They're waiting for me. I should go," Regina told Robin.

"Wait," he said, and then kissed her again. He then pulled away. "Good luck."

They kissed again and then pulled away.

He watched, as she left to go inside.

Regina entered the apartment.

Snow noticed how she looked.

"Regina, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you look smitten."

Regina approached where everyone was sitting at.

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say Haagen-Dazs is smitten with your stomach," she replied, since Charming had his hand on Snow's stomach.

Charming took his hand off her stomach after Regina said that.

"Can we get started?" Regina asked them.

"We were waiting for Hook," Katherine told her.

"I don't have time to wait for the handless wonder. We have to figure out how to destroy my sister."

"For once, I agree with Regina," Charming said. "Stopping her plan is the priority."

"There's one thing about this plan that doesn't fit. Regina," Katherine informed them.

"I'm the point of it. So, she can take my life for herself."

"Yes, but this isn't the best plan."

"Well, no one's ever succeeded in traveling through time. Perhaps something from this world makes it possible."

Charming got up from the couch and began pacing a little.

"Zelena's smart. Strategic."

"Yeah, well, so am I," Katherine replied. "We defeated you, because all it took was for me to believe I could break your curse and believe that anything is possible with magic. Before, I knew magic existed and everything else apart from fairytales, but I never took a leap of faith."

"It's the belief," Regina realized. "How did you believe?"

"The story book and the fact that I'm from the world where anything and everything is possible. Plus, because throughout my lifetime, I've known witches were real because I always dealt with them."

"It's the key. Either way, it's our best bet."

"She's right," Snow told Katherine.

"I know. Let's find it."

Zelena was in the woods with Hook.

"Why haven't you used those luscious lips and kissed Katherine?"

"Well, a fella likes to be courted."

"This isn't a joke! I need to have her magic removed. If Snow's baby is born before your kiss, I'm going to have no other option. I'm going to have to start killing people, people that Katherine loves. Starting with the boy. Take away her magic, Captain. Or the next rose will be for the little brat's grave," Zelena replied, since she was holding a rose.

After searching for the book and Snow finding it in the same place that Katherine had looked but hadn't seen it, Snow was wondering what was going on. Charming and Regina had just left with the book. So, Snow asked her what was going on and told her that whatever was going on wasn't like her.

"None of this is like me. Or at least, it never used to be."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about wicked witches and time traveling holy wars."

"So, you're going to be leaving? Charming told me you were thinking about it."

"I probably will, but not until we've taken care of Zelena," she replied.

When Hook was at the docks with Henry and , a winged monkey suddenly began to fly towards them, so they ran to the boat house. Hook was able to get a couple of them with his gun, but ran out of bullets when another one was coming towards Henry.

After using GPS to see where Henry was, Katherine and Regina and Charming and Snow got to the boat house and Katherine killed the winged monkey.

A moment later, Zelena arrived and had Henry, but Katherine was able to use magic to make Zelena let Henry go by making his skin burn Zelena's hands. Henry went over to where the others were and Regina attempted to use magic on Zelena, but Zelena through her, knocking Regina out.

"Enjoy this moment together, 'cause you don't have many left!" Zelena told them all. Then she vanished in green smoky magic.

"Henry, are you okay?" Katherine asked him.

"Yeah. Yeah." He knelt by his mother. "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Please, wake up! Mom!"

Regina finally woke up, which relieved everyone. For a few moments, they'd thought that something was wrong.

"Henry," Regina greeted.

"Mom."

Regina got up and hugged him.

"Henry! Oh, Henry!" She pulled away. "I love you, Henry." She kissed him on the forehead.

Soon, they found out how to defeat Zelena.

"Zelena's weakness is Light magic. You're the only one that can defeat her," Snow said to Katherine.

After Robin showed up Regina, Robin, and Henry left the boat house.

Katherine turned to Hook.

"Are you going to tell me what Zelena was talking about?" she questioned, since when Zelena had arrived, she'd said that it was Hook's fault because Hook had failed. "She said you failed her."

"Don't listen to her."

"Killian, what's going on? Were you working for her?"

"The witch tried to back me into a corner. I did everything I could to resist her plans."

"So, whose idea was it to kidnap Henry and stick him on a boat?"

"It was mine. I was trying to save him."

"From what? What is she doing?"

"She cursed me. My lips, actually."

"Your lips? Why?"

"She wants to steal your magic. She thought I was the best way of doing that. She knows what we all know. That you can defeat her."

"It should've been my decision or Regina's to protect Henry. Whether she forced your hand or not. I can't trust you now. How can I?"

Charming and Snow came up to them.

"She's right not to," he told Hook.

Later, Henry and Katherine were at the graveyard, since Henry wanted to go to his dad's grave, Charming and Snow watching.

Suddenly, Snow felt the baby.

Katherine and Henry rushed over, hearing her.

When they asked if she was okay and what was happening, Snow told them, "It's the baby. It's coming."

 **Ch.58: Kansas**

While Snow was having the baby, Charming in the room with her, Katherine and Regina had just created a protection spell.

"You really think this protection spell will hold her off?" Katherine questioned, since Zelena was so powerful.

Regina walked over to where Katherine was.

"Depends on if your brand of magic is stronger than hers. If it is, no one wielding dark magic will be able to get in here."

"That doesn't sound like a vote of confidence."

"It isn't. But we're out of options."

Katherine heard Hook from behind her.

"Pierce?"

She turned around to look at him.

"I heard the little royal was on his way."

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here right now."

"I want to help."

"If you really wanted to help, you would have told me when Zelena cursed your lips."

"I had no choice. She threatened you and everyone you care about. I was trying to help."

"Telling me what was going on would've been help."

"And a death sentence for the boy."

"Henry's safety is me and Regina's concern and everyone else's. Not yours. Which is why I'm taking this fight to Zelena. This ends today."

She turned around and began to walk down the hallway, when Charming came out of Snow's hospital room, closing the door.

"Katherine, wait. You don't have to do this alone."

"Yeah, I do. You need to stay with Mary Margaret," Katherine replied, standing in front of him.

"Yeah, I know, but you need help. Take Hook. He's going with you." Charming turned around to look at Hook. "You're going with her." Then he turned around to look at Katherine again.

"Thought you didn't trust me, mate."

He turned to look at Hook again.

"Zelena backed you into a corner, you did the best you could."

Hook approached and looked at Katherine.

"See? Even the prince gets it."

"I'm sorry. I'm doing this alone," Katherine told Charming.

"No, you're not. This isn't about you. It's about all of us."

"What is he going to do? I have magic. He's got one hand," Katherine argued.

"You know I'm good in a fight," Hook commented.

"At the very least, he can draw fire," Charming said.

"What, now, I'm cannon fodder?" Hook inquired.

"Fine. He can come," Katherine said, but wasn't happy about it. It wasn't the fact exactly that he wouldn't be much help in a magical fight, but the fact that she didn't want to see him get hurt during a fight with Zelena.

"Fair enough," Hook commented. "Shall we?"

"Hang on. Give me a sec," Katherine replied, seeing LeRoy and Henry down the hall. She approached. "Hey, kid."

"Hey, Katherine. Is the baby here?"

"Not yet, but it will be soon. I have to go. I have to take care of this witch. Then I'll be back."

"I know. I'm not worried. Defeating bad guys is what you do."

Regina came over to them and told Katherine, "Go. I'll keep him safe."

Hook was still standing in the hallway, when he called to her.

"Pierce, you ready?"

Katherine walked back over to Hook.

"Yeah, let's end this."

While they waited for the baby to come, Henry stayed in the waiting room with Hopper.

Katherine and Hook were walking towards the farmhouse where Zelena was at.

"Once I'm done melting this witch, I'd like to go back where I belong. Maybe go to a town called New Orleans," she informed Hook. "I'd like to be happy like I used to be."

"Well, like it or not, a big part of you belongs in this town."

"Yeah, the part that's always in danger," she replied to him. "I'm leaving."

"You talk about danger all you like, but it isn't that. So, tell me, what is it? Why are you so scared of staying? I think it's because you can see a future here. A happy one."

"Let me guess. With you?"

They were at the farmhouse, as they looked at each other.

Zelena began to approach.

"Aw. You two are so adorable. But instead of looking for each other, maybe you should be focused on me. Although, without magic, that could prove to be a challenge."

"Next time you try to take my power, why don't you try enchanting the lips of someone I'll actually kiss?"

"See, Katherine, you've got a decision to make. You can keep your magic, which makes you, oh, so sad. Or you can save the man that you can't wait to run away from," she replied, and then magically through Hook into a round steel container that was full of water.

"Hook!"

She rushed towards him.

"Choose wisely," Zelena told her.

She tried to get him out.

"Try all you like. You can't free him," Zelena said, and Katherine looked at her just as Zelena disappeared.

Katherine was finally able to pull him out. She layed him down on the ground and knelt by him.

"Hook! Hook, wake up! Killian! Killian, come back to me."

Since it wasn't working and she didn't want to lose him, she didn't have a choice but to do it.

She bent down and kissed him, giving him some air, and then looked down at him, waiting to see if it worked or not.

"Come back to me," she pleaded.

A moment later, he woke up, coughing up water and gasping.

When he was finished, he looked up at her.

"Pierce? What did you do?"

"I saved your life," she replied.

Zelena entered the hospital and magically knocked Robin and his merry men out and then Belle.

Regina heard the commotion and had Hopper and Henry go lock themselves in a closet together, so she could keep Henry safe.

Zelena appeared in the hallway.

"Take another step and I'll roast you," Regina threatened her.

"Please," Zelena said and through her against a wall, knocking her out.

After the baby was born, Charming announced to Snow that it was a boy.

After magically taking the baby from Snow and freezing Charming, she looked at the baby.

"So pure and so innocent," she commented. "And now, mine." She disappeared and Charming unfroze.

After disappearing, Zelena went back to the farmhouse.

Charming left the room with his sword.

"Where are you going?" Regina questioned him.

"To get my son back."

"You're gonna get yourself killed. David, think about this."

"What's there to think about?"

Henry looked at Regina.

"Don't let him get hurt."

Katherine entered the hospital and saw that something was up with them.

"What's going on here?"

"What happened? Did you find Zelena?" Charming asked.

"I did, but I couldn't stop her."

"She took my son," Charming informed her.

"Because I failed?"

"We're all still here, so you haven't failed just yet," Hook assured her.

"Hook's right. Come on," Charming agreed.

"No, wait. Zelena took my magic."

"How the hell did that happen?" Regina blurted.

"I didn't have a choice, okay?" Katherine replied. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't let Hook die. I'll find a different way to defeat her."

"There is no other way," Regina told her.

"That's not true. You can do it," Henry told Regina.

"Sweetheart, I don't think I can survive round three with my sister."

"Only the strongest light magic can defeat her," Charming said.

"Zelena only beat you because you were using dark magic against her," Henry told his mother.

"Okay, but that's all I have," Regina replied.

"No, it's not," Katherine interjected. "True love's kiss is light magic, too."

"See? You can do it," Henry said to his mother.

"Henry, I don't even have my heart right now."

"That doesn't matter. I know you still love me. I know there's good in you."

Robin came from a hallway behind Regina and went to stand by her.

"He's right. I know you can beat that witch."

"But I don't…"

"You have to," Katherine told her.

"Once upon a time, you were a villain, mom. But you've changed. You're a hero now. And defeating bad guys is what heroes do. I believe in you. Now, you need to believe, too."

Zelena stood inside a building which had a symbol in the dirt. Around in a circle of the symbol were the baby, part of Charming's sword which had Charming's courage, a brain made of gold, and Regina's heart. She raised her wand and the symbols around the circle combined together in different colors of magic.

Suddenly, everyone was there, approaching.

"Who's going to stop me?" Zelena questioned, seeing them. "Certainly not the Savior."

Charming saw his baby.

"Go. Get him. We've got your back," Katherine assured him.

"And I've got your heart," Robin told Regina.

"Zelena, stop now," Regina ordered her, as Katherine stood a distance away for safety, her gun pointed at Zelena. "We're not going to let you succeed."

Zelena through Robin and Charming against a wall that had hay.

Hook stood ready with his sword.

"Please, no more water."

Zelena through Hook and Katherine. Then she turned her attention to Regina.

"Come for another beating, sis?"

"No, I came for some jewelry," Regina replied. She tried to grab the necklace from around her neck, but Zelena tossed her a little.

Regina got up.

Zelena tossed Charming and Robin again. Then she turned to Regina and magically lifted her off the ground and magically began to choke her.

"Only light magic can harm me. And you're as dark as they come. It was your destiny to be this way. And it will also be your undoing."

"Don't tell me what I can be," Regina replied.

"I tried to be good once, but it wasn't in the cards. This is who I am, and it's who you are!"

Robin grabbed Regina's heart.

Regina saw that and said, "You're wrong, sis." Then light magic began to show in her hands.

"What are you doing?" Zelena questioned.

"Changing," Regina said with a smile. Then she blasted Zelena out of the circle and Zelena landed on the ground.

"How?"

Regina approached.

"I make my own destiny."

Regina took the necklace off Zelena and the colorful magic disappeared and the time travel spell completely stopped.

Charming grabbed his baby from the basket.

"David, the baby. Is he okay?" she questioned.

"Yeah, he can handle anything."

Charming and Katherine, Charming holding the baby, began to leave.

"You failed," Regina told Zelena. "You're not going anywhere."

Zelena was in a jail cell, Regina at the police station watching her.

"Why, Regina? Why not just kill me and put me out of my misery?"

"Because I know why you did what you did. We're much alike. Our mother ruined you, too. I know what it's like to not have the life you wanted. The life you feel you deserve."

"Oh, boo-hoo. You had to be Queen. You know nothing. I saw it all. You had everything."

"Did I? So, you missed the part where I lost the love of my life."

"Mother did all of that for you to achieve greatness."

"Not long ago, I was a lot like you. I wanted to kill someone who wronged me. And I failed. Had I killed Snow White, I wouldn't be in this world. I wouldn't be with these people, and I wouldn't have my son, Henry. So, no, Zelena. I won't kill you. Instead, I'm gonna give you what I got. I'm gonna give you a second chance."

"What if I don't want it?"

"Well, that would be a mistake, dear. Take it. Use it. Evil isn't born. It's made. And so is good." Regina stood up from the chair. "If I were you, I'd consider creating a new destiny. Because if you don't, I'll be right there to take your heart and crush it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I should put this somewhere safe," she replied. She said that last part, as she held the necklace up.

Regina went to her vault and put the necklace in an empty box and put it back in its spot, before leaving her vault.

Belle and Rumple were talking in the shop, standing in front of each other.

"I will never comprehend why you continue to stand by my side," Rumple said.

"I love you. I always have. Promise me one thing. Promise me you won't go after Zelena. I know you're better than that."

"Oh, Belle," he said and then added, "I am now, and for all the future, yours."

"Wait, what are you saying?" she inquired.

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes. Yes! Yes!" she replied, and then kissed him.

He kissed back.

Charming entered Snow's hospital room with the baby and handed him to her. Then he kissed her forehead.

Katherine watched from the threshold.

Katherine gave a smile, which Hook saw, when he approached from the hallway.

"Never thought I'd see one of those."

She turned around to look at him.

"It's called a baby."

"No, Pierce. A smile."

"We won," she replied with a smile.

"With all the chaos, I never got a chance to say thank you."

"Did you really think I'd let you drown?"

"Given our history, can you blame me for being uncertain?"

He gave a smile and she smiled back.

"Has your power returned now that Zelena's been defeated?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, luv."

"It's okay. I won't need it anymore," she replied, before walking away from him.

Rumple hadn't promised Belle that he wouldn't kill Zelena, so technically he wasn't breaking a promise. Because of everything Zelena had done, Rumple went to Zelena's cell and killed her with his dagger. When she died though, she technically wasn't dead, though Rumple didn't know that, as he walked away. Instead, her essence, went back to the world she was from.

 **Ch.59: Snow Drifts/There's No Place Like Home**

While Snow, Charming, the baby, Katherine, and Henry were at their apartment, Regina and Robin were having wine and eating at Regina's place in front of the fireplace.

"To having your heart back," Robin said.

They clanked glasses together.

"So, how does it feel?" Robin asked.

"Stronger than ever," Regina replied with a smile.

They kissed and then he pulled away.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I just never thought I'd have this."

"After I lost my wife, I felt like that for a long time," he explained, talking about his wife Marian. "Her death was my fault."

"I'm sorry."

"I would have walked through hell to be with my Marian again. But when I finally admitted to myself that she was gone, and that she was never coming back, I had to let that guilt go."

"My first love, Daniel, was killed because of me," Regina informed him. "Because he loved me."

"And that's why you never wanted to open yourself up again?"

"Tinker Bell told me it was possible. I could love again. She led me to this tavern. To a man she said I was destined to be with. I never saw his face, but I did see his tattoo." She took his arm and held it up to reveal his tattoo.

"It was me?" Robin questioned, shocked.

"Yes. I was just too scared to approach you."

"Well, maybe things work out when they're supposed to. Maybe it's all about timing."

While Belle was out, Rumple put the dagger in a cabinet and sealed it with magic.

When Belle came in, she informed him that she spoke to her father and he gave them his blessing. So, they then kissed.

Everyone was celebrating at Granny's. Hook, Charming, Snow, Ruby, Henry, and Katherine were talking. When Snow mentioned a point of her life when she thought running away was a good idea, Hook made a comment.

"What's he talking about?" Henry questioned her.

"Uh, should we read more stories?" Charming questioned.

Regina overheard and approached.

"Actually, I'd like to hear what the pirate is talking about."

Robin followed at Regina's side.

"It's nothing," Katherine said, not wanting everyone knowing about her plans.

"Are you planning on going back to your world?"

"Why would she go back?" Henry questioned.

"She's not," Regina assured him. Then she looked at Katherine. "Right, Ms. Pierce?"

"Actually, it's complicated," Katherine replied.

"Why would you leave? This is your home now," Henry told Katherine.

"Henry, this isn't the time or place…"

"I think it is," Regina interjected.

"No. It's not," she replied, before leaving.

Hook set the nearly empty glass of alcohol on the table.

"I'll talk to her."

"Wait. Take this," Henry said, and handed the story book to Hook. "It might help her remember where she belongs."

Hook took it and left.

"It's gonna be all right. She's just stubborn," Charming assured his nephew.

Suddenly, they saw a magic light coming up straight into the sky. That's when Belle and Rumple entered and Rumple informed them that it was Zelena's time portal. Then, when they went to the station, Zelena was gone.

When Rumple had killed Zelena, he'd forgotten about modern technically called video cameras, so the tape showed what he'd done.

Katherine was sitting on a bench by herself, when David called. She decided to ignore it, though.

"You're making a mistake," Hook said, approaching her.

"I don't wanna talk to you about this."

"Don't listen to me then. Listen to the boy. He thought this might remind you of what you're leaving behind," Hook said, handing the book over to her. "Your friends. You broke the curse and defeated the wicked witch and Pan, but you keep running. What are you looking for?"

"Home," she replied.

"And that's in New Orleans? You have a fresh start here. You don't have to run anymore from everyone that wishes you harm."

"Look, I see your point, but I can't have both worlds. Everyone is great here, but it's about time I go back home to where I belong. I can't go back to Mystic Falls, but I can go to New Orleans. At least there I have a chance at having a break from saving everyone and I'll be able to have a possible happy ending there."

"Why can't you do that here with your new friends?" Hook wanted to know.

She took the book from him and opened it.

"Because of this. I see fairytales. I see stories of princes and princesses. That's not me. I was never a part of any of this."

"Then what are you a part of, Pierce?" he questioned, sitting next to her.

"Besides making new friends here and spending time with Henry, I don't think I've ever been a part of anything."

"But you could be," he assured her.

She closed the book and looked at him.

"Look, running is all I know after the life I've led for 500 years. The first time, when I was running from Klaus as a vampire, I wondered if I was making a mistake. After all, the only reason he was hunting me down was vengeance. I'm the reason he slaughtered my family. If I hadn't ran; If I'd just let him sacrifice me to break the curse his mother set upon him, my family wouldn't have been slaughtered and Klaus wouldn't have needed to make my life hell for 500 years. But I kept running. Because of the past, running is all I know to do. I learned something a long time ago, Hook. Home is the place when you leave, you just miss it. So yeah, I'm gonna keep running until I feel that."

"So, you're just gonna leave everyone, then? Don't you even care about them? Or anyone in this town?"

"Of course, I care. I just have to do what I think is best for me. And…" She suddenly saw from behind them, a yellow stream of magic going into the sky. "What the hell is that?"

"I have no idea," he replied.

"I'm checking this out." She got up.

Hook grabbed the book and got up.

"Pierce, wait. Wait!" He chased after her and soon they were at the barn where it was coming from, which was the same place they'd taken Zelena down. "Whatever's going on in there, it can't be good."

"It's Zelena's time portal. David left a message," she replied, looking at her phone. She listened to the voicemail. Afterward, she said, "When she died, it triggered it."

She headed for the door of the barn.

Hook grabbed her arm.

"Wait, we have to get out of here."

"Not until we find a way to close it," she stubbornly replied.

"Have you got your magic back?"

"No!"

"Then we're not bloody well messing with any of this! Let's go!" Hook replied over the noise.

Suddenly, the door swung open and they got dragged inside. Katherine dropped her phone in the process, just as David tried calling her again.

Hook used his hooked hand to dig into the dirt and she grabbed hold of his hand to stop from falling into the portal.

"Hold on!" Hook said. He tried pulling her up.

"I can't!" she replied, and lost her grip and fell through the portal.

Hook looked down into the portal.

"One of these days, I'm gonna stop chasing this woman," he said, before letting his hook out of the ground and going through the portal after her.

Once they were both through the portal, the portal completely closed up.

Hook and Katherine landed on ground and they both realized where they were.

"No," Katherine said.

"It appears we're in the enchanted forest," Hook said.

"Yeah, I got that."

"The only question is when."

She got up, seeing a flyer on a tree.

"Pierce?" he questioned.

"I have a pretty good idea."

Hook got up and saw the flyer too, which was a flyer that said that Snow White was wanted.

She took the book out and opened it up.

"Why are you reading that now?" he asked.

"Because when we were falling through, I was thinking about Henry and the story we were all reading at Granny's."

"You think that time portals work like any other sort? They take you back to where you're thinking of?"

"Not where. When."

"Excellent deduction," Hook commented. "Alas, it appears they share another quality. They don't stay open for the return trip."

"Nope," she agreed. "We're trapped in the past. I should have left Storybrooke the instant we defeated Zelena. This is exactly the kind of thing that does not happen where I'm from."

"On the bright side, I'm sure real estate's much more reasonable here."

"Don't."

"I understand your frustration," he assured her. "We've been in dire straits before. There's no need to be antsy. We have our wits. We just have to focus on being constructive. So, any ideas on how to get back?"

"How would I know how to get back to the future?" she snapped at him.

Hook saw some people on horses.

"Black knights!" Hook said and they got behind a tree.

They watched from behind a bush, crouched to the ground, what was going on.

"That's Regina," Katherine softly said.

"Not Regina, luv. The Evil Queen."

"She's even worse without the sensible pantsuits," Katherine commented.

"Uh-huh," Hook agreed.

Katherine suddenly had an idea.

"We need to find Rumple. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

"Aye. Agreed. But there's one thing we need to do first," he said, looking at some clothes hanging.

She looked at him.

"I don't think so. At least not those clothes. I'll find my own. Let's get out of here first," she said.

Hook and Katherine left their spot.

After finding some other clothes, which didn't have any corset to them, and looked a lot like what she'd worn in the 1400's, they went to find Rumple's castle.

Soon, they spotted his castle.

When Hook told her that it was best he stayed behind, since he figured Rumple might wanna kill him if he saw him, Rumple appeared and magically began to choke him. She tried to tell him to stop, but he magically through her away and told her to let him enjoy his killing in peace, but she got up.

"Why would I listen to anything you have to say?" Rumple asked.

"Because if you don't, you'll never see your son again," she replied.

Rumple let him go and Hook fell to the ground.

Rumple looked at her.

"And what do you know of my son?"

"His name is Baelfire. You're planning to enact a curse in hopes of reuniting with him."

"And who told you that? What are you? Some kind of witch?"

"No, I'm not a witch. I'm the one who breaks the curse so that you can find him."

"Well, that's speculation. Part of my plans. But I haven't done it."

"You will. And you will succeed."

"If that's true, then that means…"

"We're from the future, mate," Hook said, standing.

"But time travel hasn't been done, mate."

"Yeah, well, someone's cracked that code," Katherine informed him. "We need your help."

"Help?" He chuckled. "You need my help? Then answer me one question. Do I find my son?"

"Yes."

He smiled. "Bae. I find Bae."

After entering his castle, Rumple turned and looked at Katherine and Hook.

"Why haven't I killed him?" he asked Katherine.

"If it makes you feel any better, it wasn't for lack of effort. Let's just say we buried the hatchet," Hook explained to him.

"Yes. But why not in your skull?"

Belle came in and when she said her name, Belle asked her if they knew each other and Katherine had to cover up by saying he told them about her. Rumple then told Belle to go back and clean later.

"It's a miracle you two fell for each other," Katherine had to comment.

"What? First you tell me I let the pirate live. Now you're telling me I fall for the help?"

"Yes."

After coming back so Rumple could work on helping them get home, Rumple informed them that only the person who opened the portal in the first place can reopen the time portal. And so, Rumple put them in the vault where he always put stuff that was unpredictable like Dark magic that even he didn't dare deal with.

Hook opened a cabinet and took out what was a goblet-like thing with a handle.

Katherine saw him with it.

"Wait. Don't touch anything. If Rumple's afraid of this stuff, there's gotta be a reason."

He set it down on the table.

"I'm just trying to figure a way out."

"I don't think there is one. And what's the point? You heard what he said, we can't reopen the portal."

"But you can. All he said we need is magic. Pierce, you can do it."

"Not anymore. I lost it."

"When Zelena died, all of her spells were undone. Your powers should've been restored."

"Believe me, if I could make it work, I would. You think I'm faking it?"

"I think not having magic makes it a hell of a lot easier for you to run back to your world and pretend that none of this ever happened. Now, listen to me, Pierce. It's time to stop running."

"You think I don't know that?" Katherine answered. "Yes, I run away. That's how I've always survived. But believe me, I want this to work. I want to go back. I want to stop running."

"What's changed your mind?" he asked.

"Being in this place. I guess it just sort of reminded me of who I am now and what I'm missing. Storybrooke is my home now." When she saw Hook smile, she had to ask him, "What?"

"Look down," he replied.

She did and saw the wand she was holding Rumple had given her, glowing with magic.

"I'd say you've got your magic back," Hook added. "Now, shall we go?"

She concentrated and the portal opened up and they were back in Storybrooke.

Once they were back in the barn, the portal closed.

Hook got up and then helped her up.

Katherine entered the diner with Hook.

Katherine went over to where Charming and Snow were, Snow holding the baby.

"Hey. You weren't answering your cell. We were worried," Charming greeted.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "I'm home."

"Do you mean you're not leaving?" Snow asked.

"Yeah. I'm not going anywhere."

After informing them what happened, Snow and Charming announced that their baby's name was Prince Neal.

Hook left the diner and went to sit at one of the tables outside.

Katherine left the diner shortly after and went to sit by him.

After asking him if he thought Rumple was right that everything would go back to normal, Hook said that he was and then added, "Otherwise, I'd remember that bar wrench I kissed."

"How does that prove anything?" she questioned.

"I know how you kiss. I'd have gone after her. But I didn't. My life went on exactly the same as before."

"Yeah, must've been the rum," she commented.

"Everything's back to normal. You're a bloody hero, Pierce."

"So are you," she replied.

A moment later, they were kissing.

In the woods, Rumple and Belle were having their wedding of just them and her father and Hopper. After their vows and Hopper's introduction, they kissed, married at last.

Robin, Regina, and Roland walked together to the diner. Roland ran to the door of Granny's, but Robin and Regina stopped to kiss. Then they followed Roland inside.

Back inside the barn, the goblet Hook had had was on the ground and blue magic formed until Elsa now stood in the middle of the barn. She made the goblet turn into ice and then began to leave the barn. As she walked, ice followed in her path.

 **Ch.60: A Tale Of Two Sisters**

As Elsa walked from the barn and along a road, it was still dark outside. When she came upon the sign that said what the town was called, Elsa read aloud, saying, "Storybrooke." Then the sign began to turn to ice.

After the party, LeRoy made Sleepy the designated driver, but then Sleepy fell asleep. When he did, LeRoy tried to control the car and then saw someone standing in the middle of the road.

After a few moments, Elsa put her hands towards the car and the front of the van got turned into ice.

The next day, Elsa was walking through town, a trail of ice following her, as she walked. She stopped, when someone on a motorcycle passed. Then she had to get control of her emotions so she wouldn't freeze everything. Then she looked and saw a white wedding dress in the window of a store.

*Flashback*

Elsa had told Anna that she had a surprise for her for Anna's wedding. They went to the tower and as they walked up the stairs, Anna said, "You have to tell me. No, don't tell me. Um…A horse and carriage. No, a horse couldn't get upstairs. It's a snow palace, an indoor ice rink, the whole wedding will be on ice. It's an…" Anna opened the door. "An attic."

Elsa stood behind Anna.

"It is, indeed."

They walked inside.

"So, we're here because?" Anna questioned.

Elsa went to where clothing was stored and opened the doors, as she said, "Take a look."

When Elsa stepped aside, Anna saw a wedding dress.

"Is that…"

"Mother's? Yes," Elsa replied.

"You found it."

"Go on."

Anna went over to where it hung. She was about to touch it, but then turned to her sister.

"I don't wanna rip it."

"Then you'll have to put it on carefully."

"You want me to wear it? Of course you want me to wear it. Why else would we be here?"

Elsa carefully took it off the hanger and held it to Anna and Anna took it, holding it there.

"It's missing something," Elsa commented. Then she held up the necklace which was a six-pointed star. She put it on Anna and said, "There. Something new. To go with something borrowed."

"It's gorgeous. I mean, enchanting. I mean, I love you."

Anna hugged Elsa and Elsa hugged back.

"You're very welcome," Elsa replied and then pulled away. "Now shall we see it with the dress?"

Anna went behind the curtains to get changed.

"It's so beautiful. And soft. You know I'm going to spill something on it. Maybe only clear beverages at the wedding."

Elsa approached where a wooden desk was at.

"So, about the wedding, tell me I don't have to walk down the aisle with Sven?"

"He's not the best man, but he is invited," Anna informed her.

"And now is where you tell me you're joking."

"He's going to be properly attired. For a reindeer."

"I'm sure he will be. I'm actually a little bit more concerned with the groom."

Anna peaked around the curtain.

"Elsa, he knows what to wear. It's not like he grew up in a barn." Anna thought about what she just said and added, "Fine, yes, he lived in one for a while, but he grew up with trolls. Wait until you see him, he even cut his hair. He's going to look wonderful." Anna went back behind the curtain.

"That would be a most welcome surprise," Elsa commented, and looked at the old desk, before opening it and picking up an old book. She opened it and began reading. What she read upset her.

Anna came out from the curtain, wearing their mother's dress.

When she saw snowflakes forming around Elsa, she saw that something upset her.

"Elsa, what's wrong?" She approached her. "What is that?" When she saw what it looked like, she said, "A diary?"

"Mother's," Elsa informed her.

"What's in there?"

"Our parents, their death. It's all my fault."

"Elsa," Anna said, as Elsa left. "Elsa."

*Present*

Belle and Rumple were in their car, still wearing what they had for their wedding.

"Hey. It's okay. You can do this," Belle encouraged him.

They kissed and then Rumple left the car to go visit his son's grave. He began to talk to it.

"My boy. Remember when you were small? There was a night, during the Ogres War, there was a terrible noise, the horses' hooves thundering down the dusty path." Rumple knelt at his grave. "You crawled into my bed and I can still hear your little voice, "Papa, I'm afraid." And, I guess by instinct, I just said, "Don't worry, son. Everything's going to be fine." And you smiled at me. You know, that was the happiest moment in my life. Because, for the first time ever, I felt like a man. That I could truly look after you, alone. Until I discovered this." He took the dagger out of his jacket. "And it turned me into a monster. Obsessed with power, when all I really needed was you. Your love. And now, through Belle, there's love in my life again. But once more, I've started it with a lie. She thinks she has the real dagger. I only lied to her in order to avenge your death. And now that I've done so, I really need the strength to give it back. Be that man I should be. The man you died for. And I pledge, Baelfire, I will be that man. Your heroism has shown me the way." He stood up and put the dagger back in his jacket. "I promise, I'll spend my life repaying you for that."

He walked away from his grave, back to the car.

After Belle gave him directions to a house that wasn't far from the woods but was also quite a ways away from everything else in Storybrooke, Rumple stopped the car a distance from the house.

"I, uh…found it on a morning hike," Belle informed him. "It must've come over in the last curse. No one's claimed it. So I thought there'd be no harm if we borrowed it for our honeymoon."

He gave a smile and she laughed.

Soon enough, they were inside the house.

Belle looked over at him, as she walked.

"You know, I wonder who this belonged to. Come on, take a look around, it is spectacular." She set her purse on a chair. "You can see the ocean from nearly every room."

Rumple put Belle in a magical frozen state so he could put the real dagger in her purse and take the fake one out.

"If we're gonna do this, we're gonna do it properly."

After he finished, he unfroze her.

She turned around to look at him.

"You haven't even seen the best part yet. Come on."

He paused, seeing Jefferson's hat, though it wasn't in a shape of a hat anymore, on the table.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. It's just, whoever this place belonged to has interesting taste."

She led him into a gigantic room that looked like it could be a ballroom of some sort.

"So, what do you think?"

"Well, I think we've been married almost a full day, and I don't believe we've had our first dance." He snapped his fingers and an old record player like thing began to play music and the light turned on. Then Belle was now in a yellow dress and he was in a blue and gold suit. "Care to dance, Mrs. Gold?"

He gave a smile, stepping closer, and she smiled.

"I would love to."

A moment later, they were dancing.

"I don't know, maybe we should have gone with Baelfire," Charming commented, as he walked with Neal in a baby stroller, Neal asleep.

Katherine walked next to Snow, talking to her, and she and Snow somehow got into a conversation about her and Hook.

"He doesn't know about you and Hook?" Snow questioned her, taking a wild guess.

"There is no me and Hook," Katherine denied. "Okay, well, I don't know what there is, but I certainly can't talk to Henry if I don't know what I'm talking about."

A moment later, she heard her name being called by Hook.

She turned, looking around for where he was.

"Speaking of," she commented.

Hook caught up with them and went to walked beside her.

"Pierce, are you avoiding me?"

Katherine looked over at Snow.

"Could you give us a minute?"

She went to the closest alleyway to talk to Hook.

"I'm not avoiding you. I'm just…Dealing with stuff. We have a crisis right now."

"There is always a crisis," Hook commented. "Perhaps you should consider living your life during them, otherwise, you might miss it."

A moment later, they heard LeRoy yelling that they were under attack. When he did, Hook gave a look and sighed.

"We're under attack," LeRoy said for the second time and then finally found where Katherine was.

She turned to look at LeRoy whom had Sleepy at his side.

"LeRoy, what is it?" she asked.

"We were just driving home when some thing blasted me with magic. The whole van's iced over. We woke up in a meat locker. Who's got that kind of magic?"

"Maybe the person that made that?" she replied, when she saw a trail of ice.

*Flashback*

After leaving the attic, Elsa took the diary with her to the woods and sat on a log. Snowflakes were still around her, when Anna found her. Anna finally convinced Elsa to tell her what was in the dairy.

"Turns out our parents didn't go off on some diplomatic mission like everyone thought. That was just a cover."

"For what?" Anna asked her.

"Read it," Elsa said, handing her the book which was opened to a page.

Anna read it out loud.

"I wish I didn't have to hide the truth from our children, but the truth would be too painful. What we've seen from Elsa is terrifying. And it has to be stopped."

"They were scared of me. That's why they left," Elsa said. "Because they thought I was a monster."

"No, no. I won't believe it. I refuse to believe it," Anna replied, looking at her.

"It's all right there."

"Is it? Because it doesn't say where they were going, or what they were doing. It could be a misunderstanding."

"Anna, because of me, they left. Because of me, they can't walk you down the aisle tomorrow. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to be. It's not your fault. You're not a monster. I don't think so, this whole kingdom doesn't think so. And for sure our parents didn't think so. And I will prove it. This diary is only part of the story."

"How do you know that?"

"Because…Instinct? Okay. Right. That's not enough. But there are more answers out there about what happened to them. I know it." She suddenly got an idea. "And I know who can help us find them."

"Who?"

"My future in-laws."

*Present*

Katherine and Hook went to investigate, following the trail of ice. When they saw a door of a wooden old fence close, they ran over and was soon inside what looked like maybe a junkyard of some sort.

Kat had a gun in hand, when a snowman forced, since Elsa was having trouble controlling her magic because of her emotions.

"Well, that's a new one," Hook commented.

*Flashback*

"We shouldn't be here," Elsa told her, as they approached what looked to be ordinary rocks, but weren't.

"Oh, they're practically family," Anna replied.

"I meant, you need to be planning your wedding."

"It's tomorrow. If there's still planning to do, I've horribly miscalculated."

"You need rest, it's a special day. You should enjoy it."

"I can't if my sister is upset," Anna replied, and then called, "Grand Pabbie? I know you're here. Why aren't you showing yourself? Grand Pabbie?"

What looked like a rock rolled over to them and he unrolled himself and looked at her.

"Oh, it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding."

"And when have we ever been traditional?"

"What's wrong? Something happened? You have second thoughts? He won't smell like that forever."

"No, no, this isn't about Kristoff. It's about our parents." She knelt on the ground at his level and handed him the book. "What were they really doing on that voyage?"

He read it and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know."

Elsa walked over.

"Thank you." She reached out a hand and he gave the book to her. "Come on, let's go," Elsa told Anna.

Anna got to her feet.

"Wait," he said. "I may not know what they were doing, but I know where they were going. Days before their journey, your parents stopped by to say they were not going to the Northern Isles, and they had a few questions about a land called Misthaven."

"What did they want there?" Elsa asked.

"They never said. They, like many of us, had their secrets." He yawned. "Now, I need my beauty sleep." He rolled himself back up into a rock.

Anna turned to Elsa.

"We have an answer."

"No, we have more questions."

"We have one answer and more questions, that's a start. We have to go to Misthaven."

"No, I can't just leave. I'm still Queen. I can't abandon the kingdom."

"You're just making excuses."

"Have you forgotten your last dalliance, Hans? He and his angry brothers are out there waiting to pounce at the first moment of weakness."

"Okay, good excuses, but still. Let me go alone. Give me two weeks, Misthaven is a short journey. Two weeks and I'll be right back."

"That's just what Mother and Father said," Elsa told her, before turning around and walking away.

*Present*

Kat lowered her gun, looking at the snowman.

"We don't wanna pick a fight," she said.

"Pierce," Hook said.

"I just wanna see what it wants," she told him.

It took a step towards them.

"Go away," it told her.

She accidentally dropped the gun and the gun fired off once, hitting the snowman and the snowman roared, as Kat landed on top of Hook. Then she got up and they ran out of there, but the snowman followed.

"Evil snowman. Run," LeRoy said.

Kat gave a sigh at LeRoy calling it evil.

Everyone began running in fear.

The snowman stopped walking towards them.

"I think the noise is scaring it," Kat commented, watching. Charming now stood with Kat and Hook. As she watched the snowman walk away, she said, "It's headed for the forest."

Elsa saw a newspaper, which announced Belle and Rumple's wedding.

Elsa left her hiding spot and went to an alleyway, trying to control her magic so she could help undo what she had done.

Hook, Kat, and Charming ran into the woods looking for it. They ran into the clearing Robin was at.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Some kind of snow monster," Charming informed him.

"No monster shall cross our path. We'll give you our assistance…," Robin began. Then they heard the growling of the snowman.

"It's getting closer. It's coming from the north," Hook informed them.

Hook and Katherine walked side by side towards the sound and stopped when they saw it in the distance.

"There," Little John said, pointing his crossbow at it.

"No, no, no, don't shoot," Kat tried to warn him.

"It only attacks when it feels threatened," Hook told them. "Pistol, sword, hook, my cutting wit. I don't think we have what it takes."

"Katherine does," Charming said.

"What?" she asked, looking at him.

"Your magic, luv," Hook told her.

"Right," she said and look at the snowman again.

"You can do this," Hook encouraged her.

She through some at the snowman and the snowman stopped.

"Take that, Frosty," she commented. A moment later, icicles appeared on the snowman. "Really?" she added.

The snowman through everyone away and they all hit the ground.

Regina appeared and used magic on it, which made it dissipate into nothing.

When they woke up, they saw Regina there and the snowman gone. That's when they realized that Regina had stopped it.

Regina looked at them and then disappeared in purple smoky magic.

After grabbing what was all left of the snowman, which was just a small pile of snow, Kat threw it at a tree.

Hook came up from behind her.

"So, crisis averted."

She turned around to look at him.

"Now you wanna go home and see what's on Netflix?"

He paused for a sec thinking of an answer, and then finally said, "I don't know what that is, but sure."

He gave a smile.

She smiled back and then said, "Killian, someone created that snowman. This isn't over."

"It never is. All the more reason to enjoy the quiet moments. And right now, we have a quiet moment." He stepped closer to her.

"I know," she replied with a smile. "I just gotta do something."

"Right. Of course. Go ahead, but don't tell me you're not avoiding me anymore, because I'm actually quite perceptive. And this? This is avoiding me."

"I know. I am," she admitted. She kissed him and then pulled away. "Be patient."

She walked away.

"I have all the time in the world," Hook said, though he was the only one there, since she'd left. "Unless another monster appears and kills me."

Elsa found the star necklace in Gold's shop and took it. Holding it up, she said, "Don't worry, Anna. I will find you."

 **Ch.61: White Out**

Elsa left the shop and looked around at everything.

"No one leaves this town until we are reunited." Then a wall of snow and ice began to appear all around the borders of the town, trapping everyone inside the town. She gave a smile and then said, "Anna, I will find out what happened to you."

The next day, Snow was putting Neal to bed in his crib.

"There you go, sweetheart. I'll see you in three hours for your midnight shrieking. Yes, I will. Sweet dreams."

Henry went to stand by the crib, as Snow set him in his crib.

"What do you suppose babies dream about?" Henry questioned.

"Bullfighting," Charming said, as he passed by.

"Laser tag," Katherine commented, passing Charming.

"That's not true," Snow said.

"I think they're joking," Henry told her.

"Right," Snow replied, and walked away from the crib. "I'll recognize funny again when he's three and I've had some sleep."

"Three? I see the optimism returning," Charming said.

Snow sat down in a chair.

Katherine walked over to Henry whom was by the sink.

"Okay, chocolate, DVDs, ice cream, red wine. That's one heck of a late-night snack."

"It's for my mom," he said, as Katherine looked at the basket of goodies.

"That's really sweet," she commented, and then was interrupted when a black crow began pecking at the window.

Charming and Snow immediately went over to the window and Charming opened the window.

Snow coaxed the bird onto her finger and saw a paper which she took from its leg.

"It's a message." She coaxed the bird back outside onto the sill and it flew back outside. Then she looked at the paper and opened it. "It's for Henry." She looked at Henry. "It's from your mother."

After he read it, he said, "She doesn't wanna see me." Then he left the apartment.

Katherine, after a few, decided to go talk to him, so she went to the diner, assuming where he'd be.

"You know, that is not exactly what she said. I read the note. She said for right now, while she's dealing with things."

"She doesn't wanna see me," he replied.

"She's just dealing with things. She's dealing the best she can. Things have been tough on her, and you. She's trying to fix them so that you two can be together. Because she cares about you."

"So why'd she tell me to stay away?" he asked, looking at her.

"Because she thinks she's making things better," she replied.

"She's not."

A moment later, when a street light pole collapsed on the street and went out, all the power went out at the diner and other places.

Katherine got up.

"What the hell?"

A moment later, David was heard from the walkie talkie she had with her.

"Katherine, I'm getting calls from all over. It's a town-wide blackout."

Katherine pressed a button on the walkie talkie.

"Yeah, copy that. I'm looking at it."

"I'll swing by to get you. We can check this out," he replied.

She took a second to think about it and then looked at Henry, thinking maybe this would cheer him up.

"Hey, you wanna come along on this one? We can call it Operation Nightshade. Or, uh, Blackthorn. Or…"

"That's okay," he told her.

When Charming picked her up, she told him about what happened between her and Henry.

"He wouldn't even let me hug him."

"Sounds familiar," Charming commented.

"Because I do that," she admitted. "Great. I passed it along."

"Not just you. Henry has Regina too. You both put up walls. Sounds like he's taking after the both of you."

"It's not like him to pass up an Operation anything. I'm worried."

"Kids have extreme reactions. They get over it fast. Just stay strong and roll with it," he assured her. "There's always people in this world who want you to give up. Don't make their jobs any easier." He looked over at Katherine and then when he looked ahead again, he saw a wall of snow and ice, he said, "What the hell?"

"Well, there you go," Katherine commented, not too surprised.

Charming stopped the car.

"Whatever happened to these power lines happened after the snow monster. Let's go find whoever did this," Katherine said.

She and Charming got out of the car.

Elsa watched, hidden behind a part of the wall.

Snow opened the door when there was a knock and Granny, Happy, and LeRoy walked in.

"Why…Just come on in, I guess," Snow said.

"Oh, look at the baby," LeRoy said.

"Thanks," Snow said.

"Is what I'd say if I could look at the baby. But I can't. Why? 'Cause it's dark."

"Know what else we can't look at?" Happy said. "The internet. TV. My clock."

"Happy's right," LeRoy agreed. "Power's out. So whatcha gonna do about it, sister?"

"Me? No, I think you mean Regina, the mayor?"

"She doesn't want the job anymore," Granny informed her. "This is your curse. You are the mayor now."

"I am?" Snow asked.

"We helped you take your kingdom back, remember?" LeRoy reminded her. "So you could rule. Well, this is your kingdom now. So rule it."

Hook came out from where some bushes were, a lantern in hand.

"In case you're wondering, it goes the whole way around."

Charming shone his light on Hook.

"Hook. I didn't know you were joining us," Charming said.

"Well, I get a distress call from a fair maiden, and I'm on the spot," Hook replied.

"I was not distressed," Katherine said, when Charming looked at her. She then spoke to Hook. "And you're saying this wall goes around, what, the whole town?"

"And that it does," Hook informed her.

"So once again, we can't leave Storybrooke," Charming commented.

"Doing more than keeping us inside, by the looks of that," Hook said, seeing the fallen streetlight and pole that had a power box on it. "Guess that's what caused the loss of power?" he inquired, looking at them.

"Look at you, becoming a twenty-first century man," Katherine commented, impressed at how quick of a learner he was in a world that he wasn't even from. "Yeah," she added, letting him know that he was right. "It looks to me like whoever was putting up the wall wasn't trying to take out the lights. They were just putting up the wall."

"Yeah, keep us in? Why?" Charming replied.

"Kill us all one by one. It's what I'd do," Hook replied.

Charming heard the radio that was in the car, so he walked off to answer it.

Looking at the sky, Hook said, "I should've brought the champagne."

"What?" Katherine said.

"To celebrate our second date. And because we've got the world's largest ice bucket."

"Second date? Did I miss the first?"

"Aye. Snow monster's the first, ice wall's the second. After all, if I only count the quiet dinners, we wouldn't even get one."

She was speechless for once and looked to the wall.

"I think I see something by the wall. You wait here with the ice bucket while I check that out."

She left to go check it out.

Charming came back to stand by him.

"I think it's time you and I have a little talk about your intentions."

"That's a little old-fashioned even by my standards, and I still pay with doubloons," Hook commented.

"Well, remember, I know your reputation. Katherine is not some conquest."

"I wouldn't risk my life for someone I see as loot," Hook told him. "Whatever we've become, it's up to her as much as me."

Charming gave a nod in understanding.

Katherine walked through the ice that were made into points on the wall until she saw a girl.

Elsa turned around and looked at her.

"Hey. Who are you?" Katherine greeted, being cautious but was also kind of amazed at her magical ability to create a cave for herself within the wall of snow and ice.

"My name is Elsa."

Katherine slowly stepped towards her.

"Okay, Elsa. It's okay. I'm Katherine. Wanna tell me what you're doing out here? Do you have something to do with this wall?"

"I'm looking for someone, my sister. I can't find her." Elsa held the star necklace in her hand. "This was hers. I found it in the store filled with things. Where is she?"

"I have no idea. But if you want me to help you, you have to help me. What's her name?"

"Anna."

Hook and Charming went to go see what was taking her so long and approached the wall. They then saw Katherine whom was with a girl.

"Katherine," Hook called.

"Stay back," Katherine warned them both.

Elsa pointed hands towards them, unsure what their intentions were.

"Hey, hey," Charming said, and was about to go towards where they were.

"No, no, no, stay back. It's okay. She's just trying to find her…," Katherine began.

Elsa lost control and more of the pointed icicles appeared.

"Katherine," Hook called.

Kat fell when an icicle rose up from the part of the ice she was on.

Elsa looked at Charming and Hook and then she and Katherine were sealed inside the cave that was inside the wall of ice. When that happened, Hook and Charming fell.

Charming and Hook got up.

"The device. Call her," Hook told him.

"Katherine. Are you in there?" Charming called.

When there wasn't a reply for a moment, Hook said, "I'm getting her out." Then he went to the wall and began using his hooked hand to try and break through the ice.

Charming followed and once he was by Hook, said, "What if we lift?"

When they tried and it wouldn't budge, Hook continued trying to break the ice.

Charming tried to stop him.

"Don't. We're not giving up," Hook said.

"We won't. But this is not getting us anywhere," Charming reasoned.

"Well, I'm open to suggestions."

"Magic made this thing. I think we're gonna need magic to unmake it. And I'm not gonna stop fighting until we do."

Katherine woke up and got to her feet.

She put a hand to her temple.

"Ow," she said, her head hurting. "I gotta give it to you, you put on quite a show. You wanna tell me what this is about?"

"No. Just that I'm very powerful," Elsa replied. "And you and your people, you need to be more careful, keep your distance."

"I think I can guarantee that. So if you wanna, you know, hit undo on that, then we'll get right on it."

"I…Not right away," Elsa said, no sure whether she should tell her that she can't control it. "Bring me what I want, and then I'll consider freeing you."

"Your sister, right?"

"I can't really look for her from in here."

"Katherine? Can you hear me?" Charming called, trying again.

Katherine took the walkie talkie out of her jacket.

"What is that?" Elsa asked.

"It's uh…" She tried to think on how to explain it to her.

"Katherine, are you okay? Say something," Charming tried again.

"It allows me to talk to Prince Charming and Captain Hook, who are on the other side of that wall. But if you wanna melt that, we can all talk."

"Tell him to go get Anna," Elsa said.

"Charming, can you hear me?" Katherine questioned him.

Hook grabbed it from Charming.

"Emma. Say again."

"I'm in here with this woman, she is looking for her sister, Anna. She thinks Anna is in town because she found a necklace of hers in Gold's shop. She wants us to try to find her before…"

Elsa went closer and talked through it.

"Before I freeze this town and everyone in it."

Snow was trying to figure out the power box that was at the power plant, while LeRoy, Granny, and Happy were behind her, Happy and LeRoy talking. When she got frustrated enough, she turned around and looked at Happy.

"Stop saying letters. Look. I am not magic. I have had eight hours of sleep in the last week, I am breastfeeding, and I am exhausted. I don't need this. I may have cast a little curse, but I did not ask to maintain a metropolitan electrical grid. And get this, I'm starting to get why Regina was evil. It wasn't her. It was you. You have survived your entire lives without light bulbs. Buy a flashlight."

After Snow yelled at them, they left the place in silence, realizing how she was feeling and that they were making it worst.

Katherine was walking around in the cave of ice, arms crossed, trying to get warm, feeling the cold now.

She approached Elsa.

"Aren't you cold? I'm freezing."

"It's never bothered me," Elsa admitted.

"The other day, there was something here. We called it a snow monster. I assume that's something you made?"

"I'll do whatever it takes to get my sister back."

"I can tell you care about her a lot. I'm sorry about her necklace."

Elsa began looking for it.

"Where is it?"

"It fell. Under the ice, here. You can melt it down and get it back here," she said, as Elsa looked through the crack to see the necklace. "Keep going, and we can take this whole conversation somewhere warmer."

Elsa looked away, but something in her face made Katherine realize something.

"You can't control it, can you?"

Elsa looked at her.

"What you said to David on the walkie, it wasn't a threat, it was a warning, because you can't control what you're doing."

"What makes you think you know me?"

"Because I know myself. And I have powers too, and I am not great at controlling them or knowing what the hell I'm even doing. Even before I had magic, I had different powers all together and I had to learn on my own what to do with them. And it looks to me like you're the same way."

"You? You have magic?"

"Yeah."

Elsa decided to finally tell her.

"Anna helps. She helps me control it. So if I can find her, she can help me undo this. We can get rid of all this, the whole wall, when she's here."

Katherine walked a distance away and told her, "Well, I'm afraid she's not."

"Maybe your magic could help get us out of here."

Katherine turned around and looked at her.

"I've been trying. Even just trying to warm myself up, I can't really feel my hands or my feet."

She tried concentrating and showing her magic, but it didn't work.

She looked at her.

"See? I don't have control over mine either. I'm just tired. If I just lay down for minute, maybe."

She sat on the icy floor and was going to lay down.

"Oh, no," Elsa said, knowing how bad it was getting for her, and knelt by her, stopping her from laying down. "Tell me more. Were you born with magic or cursed?"

"Those are my two options? It's kind of a long story. I never knew that I had magic. I'm from the world outside of this town. My magic is quite different, though. I'm descended from Travelers, but I never knew until my long lost daughter found me and once I knew who she was, she told me. Travelers usually don't have the magic I have. The magic I have, well, I just combine the Traveler magic and the spells I've learned over the centuries and from someone named Regina when I have to do magic."

"Well, I ended up queen of a large land, unprepared."

"I hear you with unprepared. I'm apparently a savior, but I'm still not exactly sure what the hell that means."

"Sometimes it all feels like too much, doesn't it? And even trying to just shut it out, that ends up hurting people, too. And part of it is, I'm the only one I've ever heard of with powers like mine."

"That has to be very lonely."

Katherine layed down.

"I'm very sorry I trapped us here. I didn't mean it," Elsa said.

"I know."

"Katherine? Katherine."

Charming and Hook entered Gold's shop, when Gold and Belle were at the front counter.

Gold saw them.

"It appears our honeymoon is over."

"Yeah, there's an emergency," Charming said. "Katherine's trapped under ice by a woman with some kind of ice magic."

"And this involves me because?"

"You're the bloody Dark One. Do something," Hook said.

"Well, I could melt the ice and destroy it with a thought. But that would also destroy your girlfriend. Is that what you want?"

Hook looked angry at that, so Charming put a hand in front of him just in case, as Charming said, "No one's destroying anyone. Now, the woman who has Katherine trapped is in there with her and she's looking for her sister. Name of Anna. She thinks she's in town because of something of hers she found in your shop."

"A necklace," Hook added.

Belle picked up a card from the stack of cards she and Rumple had been going through.

"Is that it?"

Hook looked at it.

Charming took it.

"Wait. I know this. I know exactly who Anna is," Charming said, remembering when he'd met her back in the Enchanted Forest and she'd taught him how to sword fight. She'd even helped him with Bo Peep. He'd known her as Joan though, instead of Anna.

Elsa was still knelt by Katherine.

"Katherine, don't sleep."

"I'm here."

"Tell me more about your daughter."

"You only wanna know more because you know if I sleep, I'll die," Katherine told her.

"Katherine. Katherine, stay with me."

Charming entered the butcher shop, knowing exactly in this town who Bo Peep was.

Bo Peep saw him.

"Sorry, lambkins. We're closed."

"I need your help."

"You and me, we ain't friends. Not interested. Get out."

"You don't have your helpers here with you anymore, Peep."

"Right. I just have one. Say hello," she said, and raised the butcher knife towards him, but Hook came up behind her and grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Don't do it," Hook warned her.

Charming took the knife out of her hand and set it down and then pinned her against a shelf.

"Now, Katherine's in trouble and I need to find the person that can help her. Someone you branded."

"I've branded a lot of people."

"Her name is Anna. She went by Joan back then."

"Do I look like I keep a record book? 'Cause I don't."

"Then you know what I need," he said and then, knowing Peep so well, told the captain, "Hook, back room. She won't keep it far from her. You're looking for a shepherd's crook."

Hook found it and came back into the room.

"Hey, hey. That's my personal property. Give it up."

Charming let her go and said, "Sorry."

"Ah, so in this world, you're a hero?"

"In this world, I don't have to answer to you." He walked away from Peep. "Let's go find Anna. Hook?"

"It's that woman, Elsa," Hook told him, the walkie talkie in his hand. "She said Katherine's passed out. She's freezing to death."

After hearing that, he and Hook got in the car and drove back to the wall.

Charming got out of the car and set Peep's crook against part of the wall.

"Elsa, how's Katherine?" he asked, once he was outside of the wall.

"She's freezing, turning blue," Elsa replied.

"No. Katherine," Hook said, and began hacking away at the ice yet again.

Charming stopped him.

"It's not gonna help." He talked into the walkie again. "Elsa, listen to me. I need you to find a way out."

"I need Anna."

"Well, we don't have her right now, but we have a way to find her. And we will. But right now, you're gonna have to do this on your own."

"I can't control this."

"I know how you feel, you're trapped. It's a battle you can't win. But it's exactly the kind of battle you have to fight. Or you'll die."

"No, I won't, I'll survive. But Katherine…"

"Survival isn't enough. You have to live."

"Where did you hear that?" Elsa asked, knowing that's exactly what her sister would say.

"You know where."

"Anna? You knew her?"

"Yeah, I did. She helped me once, a long time ago, become who I am. She saved my life. And yours. And now, I need you to save Katherine's. I didn't know much about Anna, but she wouldn't want you to live alone in an ice cave. Which is where you'll be if you don't melt that ice. Now do it."

Elsa concentrated and was able to get the wall down.

"I see her. Katherine," Hook said.

Katherine hadn't woken up.

Hook went in and got Katherine out of the cave.

While Hook left with Katherine, once Elsa came out of the cave, she and Charming had a chat.

"You did it. You saved her," Charming congratulated.

"Yes. I did," Elsa replied. "But I also endangered her. You owe me nothing."

"I owe your sister everything. What I said was true. She helped me. And now I'm gonna help you. This isn't over. We're gonna find Anna."

Snow was still trying to figure out how to turn the power back on, this time looking at the manual.

"Still can't read Japanese. But I can do this." She tried yet again. "It should start," she said, frustrated.

Neal began to cry.

Snow went over to where he was in his stroller.

"I know, honey, I know you're hungry. I'm sorry." She picked him up. "I will feed you in just a second." Snow suddenly had an idea. "Hungry. It's hungry, too. Fuel. Fuel." She found the fuel supply box and turned it on. Neal made a sound, so Snow said, "That's right. It's feeding time." Then the power was back on. "Yes. Baby high-five. Who wants some milk from Mama Mayor?"

Once Hook entered the apartment, he layed her down on the couch and got some blankets.

When Charming got home with Elsa, the light came back on so Hook brought out the heater and turned it on for her, hoping she was going to be okay.

While Hook watched over her, Elsa and Charming used the Crook to try and find Anna and they heard a heartbeat, signaling that Anna was still alive somewhere.

When Snow came home, she met Elsa.

After Charming informed Elsa that they're a family that doesn't like to give up and that they always find people, Henry went to see Regina whom finally opened her door to him.

After a while, Katherine finally woke up to see that she was at the apartment and no longer dying from the cold and that the power was on. She also saw that Hook was seated by her.

She gave a smile and sat up.

"You okay?" he asked her.

"I am now," she replied.

Later, when Katherine and Elsa went back to where the ice and snow wall was, Elsa tried to take it down, but it wouldn't go, which was strange, because Elsa thought she was the only person with power like hers.

LeRoy got some ice cream from the ice cream lady and when he mentioned that the blackout must've been a nightmare for her, she said that she didn't lose anything.

When he left, she leaned against the freezer and it turned to ice behind her as well as did some of the wall by the freezer.

 **Ch.62: Rocky Road**

It was a beautiful day, as Robin walked Roland through the streets.

When they entered the ice cream place, they ordered some ice cream, as usual.

The ice cream lady got the ice cream and gave Roland an ice cream cone.

"Rocky Road for the little man."

"Thank you," he replied.

"You're welcome," she replied with a smile. She handed Robin his. "And his dashing father."

He took his from her.

"Thank you."

"No, thank you. Seeing a happy family like yours in here really warms my heart."

Roland and Robin left the ice cream shop with their ice cream cones.

Hook, Elsa, and Katherine were at Gold's shop.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I've never seen her before in my life," Rumple told Katherine and Hook.

"So how'd she end up inside your urn? Inside your secret vault of terror?" Katherine questioned him, thinking there was more to the story than he was admitting.

"Look, if you really wanna know how she wound up there, she's standing right beside you, Miss Pierce. Why don't you simply ask her?"

"She did. But I can't remember. Something happened to my memories," Elsa informed him.

"Well, an all-too-common affliction around these parts. Pity. But as you can see, many objects fall into my possession. Urns, necklaces, all manner of things. I can't know the history behind all of them."

"Only if there's something in it for you. Right, mate?" Hook interjected.

"Yeah, well, that may have been true once. But recently my life has been turned upside down. I've lost a son. I've gained a wife." He looked over at Belle whom had been standing there silently next to him the entire conversation. He looked at Hook again. "So you might say I've decided to turn over a new leaf."

"Don't forget. I can tell if you're lying," Katherine reminded him.

"How about I do you one better?" he said, looking at Katherine. "Let's simply have Belle use the dagger on me." He looked at Belle.

"No. No, Rumple, you don't have to do that."

"No, no, no, Miss Pierce wants proof. And I'm happy to cooperate."

Rumple looked at Katherine.

"Fine," Belle replied. She took the dagger out of a box and sighed. "I command, you, Dark One, to tell them the truth."

"The truth is just as I said. I had no idea there was someone inside there. I know nothing of Elsa. Or her sister. But I wish you the best of luck finding her."

Snow and Charming had a meeting with everyone called a mayor side chat meeting to discuss the wall and other things.

Regina sat next to Henry whom was on a stool at Granny's, having a cup of hot cocoa with cinnamon. Regina put a bunch of comics by him.

"I didn't know which ones you were reading these days."

"These are awesome."

She gave a smile when he said that, happy that she'd gotten the right comics.

"Much better than algebra. Thanks," he added. "But you didn't have to do this."

"Well, I wanted to," she told him. "But don't get used to it."

A moment later, they both chuckled.

They both picked up a comic to look at one each.

"Isn't it funny how these are just ink and paper, but everything in your storybook is real? Makes you wonder who wrote it, doesn't it?"

"The storybook?" he questioned.

"Mmm-hmm."

"No one knows."

"Oh, come on. You're such an expert on all this. You've read it cover to cover," she replied, and set the comic down, looking at him. "There's nothing in the book that gives even a clue?"

"What are you up to?" he asked her.

She sighed and then got serious.

"These stories about me in the book, I was written as a villain. And things never work out for the villain. So I want to find who wrote the book and make them…Ask them to write me a happy ending. Is that crazy?"

"This is the best idea you've ever had. We have to change the book because it's wrong about you. We just have to find the clues."

"We? You'll help me?"

"It'll be our secret mission," he told her.

She chuckled. "Like that Operation Viper you had with Katherine."

"Cobra. But yeah. This one we'll call Operation…"

"Mongoose," Regina said.

"Perfect. Operation Mongoose it is."

Katherine, Hook, Charming, and Elsa went in search of who had the same magic as Elsa had, but went their separate ways. Elsa and Hook went to the woods and Charming and Katherine checked out the ice cream shop when Will, one of the former Merry Men, informed them of what he saw during the blackout.

Soon enough, Hook and Elsa found the person that had the same magic as Elsa and trapped Hook's feet in ice. Elsa tried to stop it when the lady made icicles appear above Hook, but the lady had neutralized Elsa's magic so Elsa couldn't stop it.

Katherine and Charming showed up.

"No!" Elsa yelled at the lady.

"Hey! Dairy Queen!" Katherine said.

She stopped her magic for the moment.

"Your reputation precedes you. You really think that your magic is a match for mine?"

"There's only one way to find out," Katherine replied, and magically through her.

Charming went over to try and get Hook free. As he began trying to free him, the icicles began to come loose.

When Katherine saw what was happening, she magically through them out of danger.

They landed on the ground on their backs.

"You guys okay?" Katherine asked them.

"Yeah. We're fine. Where is she?" Charming replied.

"She's gone," Katherine said, not seeing her.

They tried looking for her, but couldn't.

"There's no sign of her. Not even tracks," Katherine said.

"What is it? You okay?" Charming asked, since it seemed like something was wrong.

Katherine paced, not answering his question.

"Hey. We're gonna find her. Don't let Regina shake your confidence," he assured her, since they'd witnessed earlier Regina tell her to take backup with her, because it seemed like she needed saving these days.

"Perhaps we should keep searching," Hook intervened. "Find the villain's lair, as it were."

Katherine looked at the pirate She'd grown to trust and care about.

"So you can almost get yourself killed again? That's exactly why I told you to go to the sheriff's station," she told him, since earlier she'd told him to take Elsa to the station, instead of helping to search for whoever had the same magic as Elsa's.

She walked off to go over to Elsa and sighed.

"How are you doing?"

"That woman was lying about my sister. She would never trap me in that urn. She was lying about the past. I just wish I knew the truth."

"I've learned the past has a way of revealing itself. Give it time. We're going to find her, Elsa. Your sister Anna and this Snow Queen. Something tells me that you two were just pawns. I think this is about something more."

"What makes you say that?"

"I brought you to this world, Elsa. But it was an accident. The Snow Queen? She was already here. I'm starting to think maybe it wasn't just some curse that brought her to Storybrooke."

That night, when Katherine left the diner, Hook was outside with a flask. He saw her leave.

"Pierce, don't let a man drink alone."

"I'm not in the mood for a drink. Or a man," she said, as she passed him briskly.

He got up.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you today. I know you feel like you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders, but at some point, even though we're quite different, you've got to trust me," he said, catching up with her, and put his hook around her arm, making her face him.

"That's what you think this is about? That I don't trust you?"

"Is that not what it's about?" he inquired.

"Of course I trust you."

"Then why do you keep pulling away from me?"

"Because everyone I've ever been with eventually left me one way or another; especially, the people I loved most. Like two vampires that mean the most to me. Damon and Elijah. I lost everyone. I can't lose you, too."

"Well, love. You don't have to worry about me. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's surviving."

A moment later, they were kissing in the middle of the road.

 **Ch.63: The Apprentice**

Katherine got out of the car with Henry the next day and stood on the curb.

"You sure you're okay with this?" she asked him.

"No, but I want you to be happy.

He gave her a little push, so she made up her mind and entered the diner.

Hook was throwing darts, when she entered the diner.

He turned around to see her approaching him.

"The Snow Queen turn up? Did I miss the search party?"

"Oh, nothing to miss. There's no sign of that ice witch yet."

"It's all right, Pierce. You'll find her."

"Yeah, I know. Uh, that's not why I'm here."

"Then why are you here?"

"Well, I thought about what you said last night about being a survivor. And you're right."

"It's like I said, love. You don't have to worry about me."

He turned back around and through another dart.

"Good, 'cause I'm here to ask you out."

His dart fell to the floor.

He turned back around.

"To dinner or something," she added.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you out?" he inquired.

"I should've known you'd be old fashioned, given your age. What are you, like, 300?"

"Curses and Neverland may have given my experience, but as you can see, I've retained my youthful glow. I happily accept on one condition, you let me plan the evening."

"I know how to plan a date," she replied. "You're not the first person I've dated."

"You know how to chase a monster. I know how to plan an evening out."

"Well, I don't pillage and plunder on the first date, just so you know."

"Well, that's because you haven't been out with me yet."

She chuckled.

"See you tonight," he added.

He gave a smile and she smiled back, before leaving the diner.

When she got outside and went around the car to get to the driver's side, she stepped in a puddle and looking, saw that there was water under the car and around it.

"What the hell?" she questioned.

She got in the car.

Rumple entered his shop, only to see Hook waiting for him, sitting on top of his glass case counter.

"Making yourself at home, are we?" Rumple questioned, closing the door.

"I'm here to make a deal."

"Not interested."

"Oh, you will be. Unless you want Belle to learn the truth about your precious dagger," he said, knowing the dagger Rumple gave Belle was a fake.

Rumple began to walk towards the counter where he was.

"Tread carefully. I might just take your other hand."

"It's funny you say that, 'cause my hand is exactly what I'm here about."

A few minutes later, Rumple set a jar with his hand on the counter, Hook now standing by the counter.

"You kept it all these years?" Hook questioned.

"Only to remind myself I should have finished the job when I had the chance."

"Can you re-attach it?"

"Indeed. But the question is why?"

"I've got a date with Katherine. Should things go well, and she wants me to hold her, I want to use both hands."

"Oh, I see blackmail brings out the romantic in you. But this hand may bring out the worst."

"What the devil does that mean?"

"This hand belonged to the man you used to be. Cunning, selfish pirate. If I reunite this with your body, there's no telling what influence it could have on you."

Hook thought he was tricking him, so he didn't take it seriously.

"Sorry, Dark One, I'm not gonna fall for your tricks today. Nothing can change me back." He set his hook on top of the counter. "Now give me my hand, or Belle finds out exactly who she's married to. Because unlike me, you haven't changed one bit, Crocodile."

"Very well." He magically re-attached it to Hook. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Elsa was at Snow and Charming's place.

Snow set a book down on the table, the baby in her arms.

"Census records from the first and second curses. If Anna's ever in Storybrooke, we'll find some trace of her here."

"Your curses are very thorough," Elsa said.

"That's just A through E."

Charming came over and set some more books on the table.

"Here are the rest of them."

Snow and Charming turned to see Katherine in a dress.

"Wow," Snow said.

"What Snow said," Charming commented.

Elsa looked too.

"Is that just the corset? Where's the rest of it?"

"This is the rest of it," Katherine informed her. She walked over. "You sure you guys don't need any help? Maybe I can get Hook to stay in for the night."

"My sister put her wedding on hold because of me," Elsa said. "I don't want anyone else to stop living their lives on my account."

There was a knock on the door, so Katherine went over and opened it to reveal Hook with one hand behind his back.

"You look stunning, Pierce."

"You look…"

"I know. I thought since I'm finally adjusting to this world, I thought it was time to dress the part." He handed her a rose, his hand no longer behind his back.

"Katherine?" Snow said, seeing that Hook had both hands now.

"Is that?" Katherine questioned, realizing it as well.

"Mine? Yeah," he replied. "The Dark One kindly restored what he once took from me. It seems he has indeed changed his ways."

"So what do I call you now? Captain Hand?"

"Killian will do," he replied.

"Okay, Killian. We should get out of here before David decides to give you a speech."

"Well, you can spare yourself the trouble, mate. I assure you, Katherine couldn't be in better hands."

"That's exactly what worries me. Especially now that you have two of them."

"I can take care of myself," Katherine assured Charming.

"You sure you don't want me to drive?"

"Goodbye," Katherine said, and left with Killian.

Charming went over and closed the door.

"I wasn't too hard on him, was I?" he asked Snow.

"You should have seen me when Kristoff started dating Anna. It's the only time in my entire life that I've ever made someone sweat."

Charming chuckled.

"Speaking of which, let's figure out what happened to your sister," Snow said.

Elsa opened a book to begin looking.

Killian sat at a table at a restaurant with Katherine.

"Shall I order us some drinks?" he asked.

"Not tonight," she replied.

"Why, love? You a bit worried you'll find me even more irresistible after a few libations?"

"No. I wanna stay sober tonight just in case the Snow Queen decides to crash our date."

He put his hands in hers.

"Look, Pierce. I didn't bring you here to worry about the Snow Queen. I brought you here to show you a good time."

Will finished his drink at the bar and spotted her with Hook, so he tried to leave unseen, using the waiter whom was coming over to pour them drinks, to block himself from view, but he accidentally bumped the waiter which made him accidentally spill a little bit on her dress.

"Really?" Katherine commented.

Hook grabbed Will.

"Take your glass there, mate. Apologize to the lady, mate."

Will looked over at Katherine.

"Killian. Look. It's okay."

Hook let go of Will, not knowing what the hell was happening.

Will stood up and straightened his jacket.

"You? You're the thief that took off from the ice cream shop."

Will ran off.

Katherine got up and was about to chase, but held back saying, "Nope. Not gonna do it." She didn't feel like running after him in heels. She also didn't want to ruin a perfectly good night. "We are on a date," she said, sitting back down. "And I am not gonna let some petty, fairy-tale thief ruin it. And there's an ice wall around the town. He can't get away. I'll find him. But he is not gonna ruin this night."

While she'd been talking, he hadn't exactly been listening. He was staring at his hand. He knew something was happening, but didn't want to worry her.

Katherine noticed him staring at his newly attached hand.

"Killian? Hey, Hook. It's okay, it was just a glass of wine."

She put her hand in his hand he'd been staring at.

"Sorry, love. I, uh, don't know what got into me."

After the date, they kissed outside of the door, he asked her out saying it was his turn to do that, and she closed the door behind herself to the apartment.

"So, how was it?" Snow asked.

She looked to see Snow and Charming sitting on the couch.

"You guys are still awake."

"We wanna hear everything about the date," Snow said.

"Just for the record, some of us don't wanna hear everything," Charming said.

"How was the restaurant? Did you go anywhere after? Was there a good night kiss?" Snow questioned her.

"That, for instance, is one of the things I don't wanna know about," Charming said.

"I really need to get my own place," Katherine commented, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the questions. "Good night, guys." She walked off to her room.

"She seems happy," Snow commented to Charming.

"I guess he really has changed," Charming replied.

From her room, Katherine said, "I can hear you, guys!"

Will was picking the lock of the library, when Killian saw Will.

"Bloody hell."

"That's what I say," Will replied, not really paying attention. Then he actually stopped trying to break in and looked to see him. "You?"

"I've been a pirate long enough to know there's nothing worth stealing in there," Hook said.

"That's what you think."

"You're drunk, mate."

Will tried to pick at the lock again and Hook tried to stop him.

"Get off me, man," Will said.

Hook punched him a few times and Will landed on his back on the ground.

"What the hell, mate?" Will inquired.

Hook stopped walking towards him, realizing that he was about to do something he'd regret, so he just told him, "You tell anyone about this, you're a dead man." Then he leaned against a corner and looked at his hand and then across the street at the shop. "The bloody crocodile was right."

Rumple got into his car and a moment later Hook joined him.

"You were right," Hook told him.

"Get out," Rumple said.

"I don't want this infernal hand anymore. It's taken possession of me."

"You should have heeded my warning when I offered it," Rumple reminded him.

"I can't control it. Remove the darn thing before it makes me do something you regret."

"Was that a threat?"

"Aye, mate. Take it back, or Belle learns that the dagger she has is as fake as your new disposition."

"Oh, is it?"

"Is it what?"

"Fake."

"Well, you wouldn't have given me the hand if it weren't."

"After you extracted that price, I switched the real dagger back."

"No, you're lying."

"Am I? It seems you've lost that leverage you once had. So if you wanna part ways with that hand and get this back—," he took out the hook. "there's only one way I'll help."

"A deal," Hook said, though he didn't like the sound of that. "What do you want?"

"All in due time."

"You think I'm daft enough to agree to that without knowing the terms? I'll find another way to rid myself of this darned hand."

"I'm afraid that's easier said than done. You see, my magic put that hand on. And only my magic can take it off."

Hook drove the hook into his chest.

"You think you would've learned the first time you buried that hook in me," Rumple commented. "It never sticks." He made the hook disappear.

"That wasn't me," Hook assured him. He looked at his hand.

"You're losing control, dearie," Rumple said. "Next time, you might do something to someone who can't be so easily fixed."

"You have a deal. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Oh, I do love it when they say that. Meet me at the docks tomorrow morning, Captain. We have work to do."

The next day, Katherine was driving the car, when she suddenly drove onto a patch of ice and had to get back in control of the car.

She got out and saw the patch of ice.

"I knew it."

She went around a building and saw her.

"Why the hell are you following me!?" she yelled, since she was a distance away from her. "Hey, stop!" she added, when the Snow Queen walked around the building.

Katherine ran after her.

The Snow Queen disappeared, so she stopped.

"What the hell?"

Her phone rang and she took it out and answered it.

"Now's not a great time."

"Katherine, I need you to come down to the library," Belle said. "We have a situation," she told her, as she stood in the library, seeing someone with a book and a mostly empty alcohol bottle sleeping. And it had appeared that he'd gotten in by breaking a window.

Rumple arrived at the docks and approached, where Hook was sleeping on a bench table.

"Morning, Captain."

Hook woke up.

"Well…I trust you're ready."

Hook sat up.

"I'm ready to pay the price and get this over with."

"Good."

Rumple made a broom magically come to him in his hand.

"What are we gonna do with that?"

"This is gonna help me find an old friend," Rumple informed him. "After you."

He put his jacket on and got up and they both followed the walking broom that now had arms.

"To whom is your bristled guy leading us?" Hook questioned, when they got to a house and were following it up the steps to the house.

"Someone who wronged me long ago," Rumple replied. "And today, he's going to pay the price."

Rumple knocked on the door and the apprentice answered it.

"Hello, old friend," Rumple greeted. "Captain, please see our host to a seat.

Inside, once Hook had him seated and Rumple used magic to bring the hat out of the box, the apprentice said, "You have it."

"Don't tell me you doubted me."

"Every Dark One tries. Every one fails."

"Might be time to update the motto."

"You may have the hat. But we both know you will never collect enough power to do what you want."

"Oh, I will." He set the dagger down nearby. "But, alas, you won't be there to see it." Rumple used the hat on the apprentice, sucking him inside it.

"Where the hell did he go?" Hook questioned, having never seen the hat before or known what it was.

Rumple picked the hat up from the floor.

"Exactly where I need him."

Rumple and Hook were at his shop. Rumple set the jar on the counter.

"Okay, we're done. I've fulfilled our deal. Now take it off."

Rumple switched his hand with his hook.

"Our deal actually isn't complete."

"I say it is. You can no longer control me, mate. I just saw you use the real dagger, so I know you're lying to Belle. You've got nothing on me."

Rumple held up a tape.

"Security tape from the house we just left. How do you think Miss Pierce is going to react when she finds out what you did to that kindly old man?"

"I know how that device works. And if I'm on there, so are you."

Rumple put his hand over the tape and then took his hand away.

"And now I'm not. But you are."

"I only did what you asked so I could rid myself of that cursed hand, so I could become a better man. Katherine will understand that."

"Even when she finds out the truth?"

"What truth?"

"This hand isn't cursed."

"But you said…"

"You were right. Dark One lies. Dark One tricks. This hand is nothing but a lump of flesh. The only thing it did was give you permission. Permission to be the man you really are. Not some puppy dog chasing after the object of his affection, but a ruthless pirate who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. I did you a favor. I helped you remember the darkness that lies beneath."

"Then you know that that darkness will have no problem crushing Belle's heart."

"If you go after my love, you will surely lose yours. You threatened my marriage. Tried to destroy the only light in my life. And for that, you will owe me as long as you live."

"What if I'm willing to take you down with me?"

"I think I know you better than you know yourself, dearie. So here we are, Captain, still in business together. I think you and I are gonna have some fun."

Katherine was at the station with Elsa and Charming. Will was in a cell and had just woken up.

Will looked over to see Katherine approaching the cell.

"Oh, bloody hell."

"Good morning, sunshine. Wanna tell me why you broke into the library last night?"

"The what? Oh, that's what that place was. I just thought it was a poorly stocked pub."

"Okay, I get it. Every town needs a village idiot. But your little stunt pulled me away from an important investigation, and interrupted my night off. Start talking."

"The last thing I remember is running away from you, and then I celebrated my escape with a nice bottle of whiskey."

"Did you celebrate with all your friends, Alice and the White Rabbit? This was on you in the library. This was in your pocket," she replied, holding both books up. "Mean anything to you?"

He looked at the books and then at her, standing at the door to the cell.

"Nope. Doesn't mean a thing."

"How about your eye? You get a look at whoever gave you that shiner?"

"Now, that is an interesting question, isn't it?" Will said, seeing Hook enter the station.

"Where were you?" Katherine said, turning around to look at him.

"Sorry, love. I just got your message. I…"

"It's okay. I just need another minute here." She turned back to Will. "You were about to tell me who did that to your face."

"It's a bloody mystery to me," Will told her. "Your guess is as good as mine. Must've been some party, eh?"

"Well, if you remember anything, I'll know where to find you."

Katherine walked off.

"You're just gonna keep me in here because I broke into a bloody library?"

"Because you crashed my date," she said, turning back around to look at him. She turned back to Hook. "Which turned out pretty good despite the rude interruption." She gave a smile and then saw that he had his hook back. "What the hell happened to your hand?"

"It appears the Dark One's magic wasn't all I hoped it would be."

"Katherine, there's something I need to talk to you about," Charming said, sitting at a desk with a book, Elsa next to him.

Katherine walked over.

"Well, make it fast. I wanna go after the Snow Queen before the trail gets cold."

"The name the Snow Queen's been using in Storybrooke, Sarah Fisher? That name doesn't appear anywhere in the census records."

"What does that mean?"

"You were right. She didn't come here by any curse."

"Then how'd she get here? And what the hell does she want with Elsa and I?"

Henry entered Regina's vault, where Regina was sitting in a chair.

"Mom. How's it going?"

"No progress yet," Regina replied, and closed the book in her lap.

"We're gonna find the author. Make him change it," he assured her. "I think I figured out who has all the answers we're looking for."

"Who?"

"My grandpa."

"David?"

"My other grandpa, Mr. Gold. Everyone knows Rumpelstiltskin doesn't get a happy ending. But look at him now. He just married Belle. He must have figured out how to change his story. Which means he might know who wrote the book."

"And I'm the last person he'd ever share that with," Regina added.

"That's why I'm gonna find out for you."

"How?"

"By going undercover."

He gave a smile.

Later, he went to Gold's shop and asked for a job and Gold accepted, telling him to just stay out of the back and not to touch anything and that he could start by sweeping the floor.

 **Ch.64: Breaking Glass**

Elsa and Katherine were at the station with boxes of file folders that had papers in them.

"Somewhere in here, there's got to be something on her," Katherine said.

"There has to be a better strategy. While we're reading files, my sister is out there somewhere. We have to confront this Snow Queen," Elsa insisted.

"Believe me, if I could, we would. We have to find her first. And, Elsa, we have to be careful. This woman is tricky. She seems to know you and you don't remember her and something tells me it's not an accident."

"You think she took my memories?" Elsa asked.

"I'm really good with names and faces and I've never seen her before. If you don't remember her, then she took your memories all right. The question is why. We need to find out what the hell she's up to."

Hook entered the station with a box.

"Paperwork, ahoy. Old city records from the Mayor's office, per your request."

He set a box by the one Elsa was standing by and looked over at Katherine, as he opened the box.

"Oi! Somebody's forgotten about me dinner!" Will said. "I had the bangers and mash."

She grabbed a bottle of water and a pop tart from the desk she was standing by and took them over to his cell.

"You had the water and pop tart."

He got off the bed in his cell and took the bottle of water and looked at the pop tart.

"Somebody's already had a nibble."

"I've had my shots."

He took the pop tart from her.

"That's a relief," he replied, and took a bite from the pop tart. "Now, I've served me time. So, when will I be free?"

"When I say so," she replied with her back turned, now back at the box on her desk.

"Well, I'm off to take Henry sailing, love," Hook told Katherine. He walked over to where she was. "Unless there's something else you want me to do here."

"Make sure Henry wears his life vest, okay?" she replied.

"Befriending the son to get in with her?" Will commented from the cell. "Yep. No one will ever see through that."

Hook turned around to look at him.

"Why don't you keep your thoughts to yourself, mate?"

He turned back to Katherine.

"Goodbye."

He gave her a kiss on the cheek and left the station.

Elsa found an envelope with pictures and went over to Katherine.

"Katherine, look."

"Why are there pictures of you mixed in with the city records?"

"Let's just say when Regina was mayor, she abused her power a bit." She took the pictures from Elsa. "She was looking for any reason to run me out of town." She gave a chuckle. "It's the first time Henry and I went for hot cocoa." She handed her pictures, as she spoke. "When I walked him to school for the first time."

Katherine stopped the car on the side of the road and sighed, Elsa in the passenger's seat.

"Are you okay?" Elsa asked her.

"It's just the pictures. Reminds me of when I first got here. Regina and I hated each other. Well, "hate" might be the wrong word, but we did not mix."

"But it seems like you've come a long way since then."

"Yeah, but it looks like we're right back at it. I just wish I could fix it. You coming?"

"I think this sounds like something you two should talk about alone. You know, if things were getting better between you two before, maybe they can again."

"I doubt it. Once you screw something up, most of the time there's no getting them back."

"What makes you say that?"

"Experience. I lost someone special to me because of it a few years or so ago. Now I'm never going to get him back."

She got out of the car. They were there to see if Regina could help out.

"Ms. Pierce. What an unpleasant surprise," Regina greeted, looking at a book in her vault.

"I was hoping you might help us find the Snow Queen."

Regina told her no on that, so Katherine didn't fight her on it.

"I suppose I should talk to Sidney, then. But no one seems to know where he is. Have you seen him?" she said, when Regina said she wasn't going to be helping.

"I've been busy," Regina replied.

"Guess I'll let you get back to what you're doing then."

Elsa was still waiting in the car, when she heard what sounded like Anna calling to her, so she got out and followed the voice.

When Katherine came out of the vault, she didn't see Elsa in the car

Sidney whom was back in the mirror told Regina that he knew where the Snow Queen's lair was and he wanted her to let him lead her there.

Snow and Charming went to the station and Charming grabbed a walkie talkie so that they could be reachable on their hike. That's when he saw that Will had managed to escape from his cell. So, he and Snow went in search of him.

Regina was walking through the woods, searching for the Snow Queen's lair. She put her pocket mirror away, when she felt that someone was nearby.

Katherine appeared, since she'd been looking around for Elsa.

"Regina," she greeted.

Regina sighed.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"Elsa disappeared on me. I think she went to go confront the Snow Queen on her own. I'm afraid she's in trouble."

Regina sighed.

"How about you? Nature walks your new thing?"

Regina told her that she was looking for the Snow Queen's lair.

"How do you even know where she is?" Katherine asked.

"Explaining my magic to a beginner is a waste of my time. She's east of the toll bridge."

Regina walked past her.

"Well, I think we should stick together, then," Katherine suggested. "My best shot of finding Elsa is to go in the direction of the Snow Queen. You don't mind the company, do you?"

"Does it matter if I mind? If I say no, you'll just come anyway."

Regina walked off and Katherine silently followed.

Elsa made a bridge when she got to a dead end where below was all river water, and she began walked on her ice bridge.

After a few minutes, Katherine asked, "Which way?"

"Right."

"Is this a locator spell? Shouldn't we be following some, like, floaty object or something?"

"Oh, now you're a magic expert."

"No, it's just in the past, there was a…"

"There are many enchantments you have yet to be exposed to," Regina stated. "If you bothered to study your craft, you'd know that."

"I'm kind of learning as I go. It's not like there's a lot of online classes in this kind of thing. But when you helped me, I seemed to learn pretty fast."

"I don't have time for lessons."

"I know. You're busy."

They continued onward.

Elsa found what looked to be Anna where there was a patch of snow. The Snow Queen then appeared and turned what looked to be Anna to ice and it disappeared.

"What did you do?" Elsa questioned.

The Snow Queen magically put ice chains on Elsa.

"I'm sorry for the theater, but she was never really here, sweetheart. An icy illusion, because I needed you."

"For what?"

"Look at yourself. So much fear. Imagine what you could do if you only learned to control it. You had a chance to do so once, but you squandered it. Fortunately for me, the more frightened you are, the stronger those chains will hold. And that's all I need. For now. You out of my way. I would tell you that everything is going to be fine. That I won't hurt you. But your worry, your fear, are exactly what's needed right now."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to build a snowman."

Snow found Will digging.

"Looking for something?"

"Not really your concern, is it, lady?"

"Maybe you should have made a map for whatever it is you're looking for."

"I did make a map, thank you very much."

"Did you lose it?"

"No. I didn't lose me map. It's in me traveling sack, safe and sound."

"But you're not traveling because you buried your sack and the map?"

"Yes, okay. I buried the map to find the sack in the sack I'm trying to find. I screwed up. It happens to the best of us."

"Not really."

"Well, it happens to the best of us when we have a touch too much to drink."

"That I buy."

"What it to you anyway? It's not like you're the sheriff."

"Oh, no. But I am the sheriff's wife."

"You're married to the blonde? That's Katherine. Other sheriff."

"What now?"

"You know, in your mug shot, you look taller. And smarter."

"Did the sheriff's wife just call me short and dumb?"

"I mean, you're not even gonna try to run, are you?"

Will got to his feet.

"No. Consider yourself lucky that I'm too knackered."

"You didn't break out of jail."

"I didn't?"

"My husband let you go. So I'd have a little victory. Do a little tracking, put a criminal back behind bars, feel good about myself. I bet that you didn't even do anything very serious."

"I got drunk and broke into a library."

"Oh! A boozy bookworm. Oh, this is David. This is so David. Well, you can admit it. This whole thing is an elaborate hoax."

"What if I did admit it?"

"I'll pardon you."

"Right. So I'm supposed to believe that the sheriff's wife can give me my freedom."

"I'm also the mayor."

"He did it."

"I knew it!"

Katherine and Elsa found the bridge.

"Looks like Elsa was here," Katherine commented.

"Thanks, Ms. Pierce. Please, continue to point out the obvious."

"Then, obviously, we're not gonna step on it 'til we know it's safe," she replied, seeing that Regina was about to step onto it.

"It's safe," Regina assured her.

"Hey!" Katherine said, trying to get her to stop.

"You were saying?"

"I don't know why I even bothered."

"Well, that makes two of us. Now, hurry up. I'd like to get to that Snow Queen before it's actually winter."

Katherine finally began to follow Regina onto the bridge.

When she felt wind, Katherine got a sense of something and said, "Something's not right."

"Maybe your sparkly blue-dressed friend is closer than you think."

"No. This is not Elsa." The wind got stronger and the bridge shook a little.

Regina and Katherine fell on the bridge.

"The Snow Queen! She found us!" Katherine said over the sound of the wind.

Regina realized that Sidney had lured her into a trap.

"Sidney," she said.

Katherine heard her.

"Sidney? What does Sidney have to do with any of this?"

Regina didn't say anything to her and got an angry face.

Katherine realized what Regina had done.

"You lied to me. You said you didn't have a clue where Sidney was," Katherine said. "He was in your mirror the whole time?"

"Maybe I did. So what? I don't have to tell you everything I'm doing."

She opened up her pocket mirror.

"Nor do I, Your Majesty," Sidney said.

"You led us here. You're working for the Snow Queen? Traitor!"

"I'm the traitor? I think Your Majesty should take a look in the mirror. And as you contemplate what you've done, know that she has a present for you that I'd say is well-deserved." He disappeared.

"Sidney!" she yelled.

She closed her pocket mirror.

"Regina?" Katherine said.

"Save your moral judgments."

"Look!" Katherine told her.

The bridge began to break, so they began to run up the bridge to escape.

"Jump!" Katherine said, and they both did so, landing on solid ground.

Elsa tried breaking the chains and when she got unafraid, the chains broke.

Regina quickly got up and began walking.

Katherine got up a moment before and had to do a brisk walk to catch up with her.

"You okay?" Katherine asked. "Regina?"

Regina stopped walking.

"I think we have a bigger problem."

Regina and Katherine saw a big snow man made of ice with an axe and shield.

They tried to work together to take it down and they took its arm off but it regrew its arm and regrew a new axe.

"Well, that's a problem," Katherine commented.

"Not helpful," Regina replied, looking at the thing.

"Try again," Katherine urged. "Together."

Regina nodded and when they did it together, it completely disappeared.

"I think we did it," Katherine commented.

"What a welcome visit, ladies," the Snow Queen said, suddenly appearing in front of them. "Thank you for brining me what I needed."

A moment later, the Snow Queen had Regina's mirror in her hand.

"Give me back my mirror…you…," Regina began to threaten her.

"No," the Snow Queen said, and magically began to choke her.

"Stop. Don't…," Katherine began, but the Snow Queen began to do the same to her.

Elsa appeared behind them and blasted the Snow Queen, which made her land on the ground and stop choking them.

"You want a fight? Fight me," she said, standing between them and the Snow Queen.

"Well done, Elsa. You're losing your fear," she said, once she was on her feet. "There's hope for you yet."

"Let's just finish this now," Regina said.

"No need," the Snow Queen said. "I have what I want."

The Snow Queen disappeared.

Elsa turned around to look at them.

"Are you both okay?"

"We are now. Thank you," Katherine replied. Then she turned to Regina whom was pacing. "Why didn't you tell me about Sidney?"

"Because, despite what you wish, we're not partners. I didn't ask for you to tag along."

"Well, I did. And if you had told me, maybe you would have saved us some trouble."

"Okay. Tell you what? That I threw Sidney in a mirror to help me find the Snow Queen? What's the point? I know you too well, Pierce. So stop trying to get me to forgive you, because it'll never happen."

"Stop it. You two need to mend your differences, otherwise, Storybrooke doesn't stand a chance," Elsa tried to reason with Regina.

Regina chuckled.

"We never will. For one simple reason. I don't want to," Regina replied, and then magically disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.

The Snow Queen was in her lair, looking at the pocket mirror.

"You're free. As promised."

"Thank you. Now, what is it you wish me to do first, My Queen?"

"I wish nothing from you."

"I don't understand. But the deal was…"

"It wasn't you that I wanted, Sidney." She sat in her chair and looked at him. "It was the mirror itself. You more than anyone should understand a mirror's importance. Mirrors reflect our mood, our desire, our essence. They are a temporary receptacle for some tiny fraction of our soul."

"You have other mirrors."

"I have many. Hundreds. But none as important as this one. For what I want to do, your former home should do quite nicely. The person who trapped you in here imbued it with much dark magic."

"My Queen, what are you planning?"

"What I'm planning is to get what has been denied to me for too long. What I deserve."

"What's that?"

"That is between me and…Well, my reflection. Enjoy your freedom, Sidney."

He began to leave and then she suddenly appeared in front of him.

"A word of advice. Get a warm coat. It's going to get a bit cooler around here." He bowed and then left.

As they walked through the woods together, Elsa told Katherine, "I'm sorry I took off. The Snow Queen tricked me. She made it seemed like Anna was here. I thought I was chasing her."

"I get it. I'd do the same thing."

"So why did you let Regina just walk away?"

"You heard her. She wants nothing to do with me."

"Maybe you shouldn't give up on her so soon."

"It's like I said. Once you screw things up, most of the time in my experience, there's no going back."

"I don't believe that. If there's one thing my sister taught me, you don't give up on people. If someone's important to you, don't give up on them. Even if they say hurtful things or send a giant snow monster to chase you away."

They both chuckled at that.

Regina was alone in her vault, moping.

She sighed.

"What do I have to do to get you to leave me alone, Pierce?" she said, seeing her from the mirror she was looking into. She turned around to look at her. "Go away."

"I'm an idiot."

"Finally, something we can agree on."

"I'm an idiot because I've been down this road before."

"Irritating me? Yes, you have."

"No, a few years before I got here. There was someone I loved for 500 years, but the one time I lied to him, he doubted my intentions and left me for his family, despite the fact that I showed him that he could trust me. I don't know if he ever forgave me. We haven't spoken since then. I doubt he even knows that I was ever in danger after he left, because I never told him what was happening to me. For 500 years, I pushed people away that wanted to help me anyway they could and I ended up alone. I don't wanna make the same mistake again. Living in Storybrooke, I've got people that actually love me for who I am, no matter what I do or say. That's something I can't say I've ever had. But the heroes of this town can't always understand me. They don't know what if feels like to be rejected and misunderstood. Not the way I do. Not the way you do. And somehow, that makes us…I don't know, unique. Or maybe even special. I was just looking for you to be my friend."

"You thought we were friends?"

"Crazy, right? But I thought it could be, that it was possible. I'm not gonna stop trying. Even if you still want to kill me." She turned around and began to leave.

"Katherine, wait."

Katherine turned around to look at her.

"I don't want to kill you."

"See? That's a start."

Snow was on the bed with baby Neal, when Charming approached.

"Hey," he greeted.

She pulled him in for a kiss and then pulled away.

"I love you."

"I love you, too. How's Neal? He survive an hour with Belle?"

She chuckled. "She was wonderful. Took care of him. I caught the thief."

"What?"

"Will Scarlett. I tracked him down."

"That's amazing. Where is he? Back in his cell?"

"Eh, I pardoned him."

"Wait. What?"

"It's okay. He admitted the whole thing. He told me about how you let him escape, so I could track him down."

"He told you that?"

"Don't be mad. He tried to keep your secret. But really, he's a terrible liar. Not to mention, I am familiar with your tricks. Your plan worked. I feel more like myself again."

He chuckled.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"No, Mary Margaret, I couldn't be happier that you enjoyed yourself today, but I had nothing to do with it."

"Of course you did. I mean, the way…"

"Mmm-mmm."

She realized he was serious.

"He really did escape?"

"Yeah. And you really pardoned him."

"What do we do now?"

"Hope he doesn't pass out in another library? Look, if the outcome of his escape is that you found a part of yourself again, I'd say he earned that pardon."

They kissed.

Katherine was at the station, about to go through a box, when Hook walked in, knocking a bit on one of the walls with his hook.

"Hello, love. You seem vexed. Like you could use a drink." He handed her his flask and she took a drink from it. "That's putting it lightly. Some things have happened today that have made me think about the past."

"Well, I'd like to know more about your beginnings," he replied.

She opened up a white box which didn't have much stuff in it. She didn't know how any of it got there, but it did make her think.

"May I have the honors?" he questioned.

She stood and took out her family book, setting it on the table.

"What's that?" he inquired.

"A book of my entire family. I changed my name shortly after I found my entire village slaughtered in 1492, but my original name was Katerina Petrova. I don't know how or why any of this is here. I left it all in my world," she explained. She was beginning to think it was a sign of some kind, though she wasn't sure what kind of sign this would be, if it was one.

She put Hook's arm around her shoulders and rested her head on his shoulder. It had been a long day. She was tired and ready to go home.

 **Ch.65: Family Business**

Rumple was putting the case that had the hat in it in his safe, which was also where his dagger was. When he heard Belle though, he quickly closed the safe and locked it, before putting the picture on the wall back into place, which was where he hid the safe at.

"Rumple?" Belle called and then entered the front of the shop, where he was.

He turned to look at her.

"Belle."

"Hey. I've been looking all over the house for you. Didn't even hear you leave."

"I didn't want to wake you," he informed her. "Just a few things to take care of before we open," he added, pointing behind him.

"Well, whatever it is, it'll have to wait. Katherine called. She needs to see us right away."

Katherine was at the station with Hook, Regina, Snow, Charming, Henry, Belle, and Rumple. When Belle mentioned about wondering how she even got to Storybrooke, Katherine turned and looked at Rumple.

"We were hoping Gold could tell us that. You spent more time trying to get here than anyone. How the hell did she do it?"

"Considering the time I spent on the same task, I'd love to know."

"Does it really matter?" Charming questioned. "I mean, shouldn't we be more concerned about why?"

"Obviously, she needs her for something. But what? Well, that's our next problem," Regina interjected.

"Well, we know she's hiding somewhere in the North Woods. We combed every inch of her shop, we tore apart her house. She must have cleared everything out days before," Charming replied.

"Which means she must be hiding something," Hook added.

"But where?" Katherine inquired.

"What about her ice cream truck?" Henry suggested.

"Whoa. Snow Queen has an ice cream truck?" Katherine asked, looking at him.

"I'm a kid. I notice these kind of things," Henry replied.

Katherine looked at Charming when he spoke.

"Then we split up into groups, we search the town, the woods. Hook, Regina, Katherine, you take the west. Gold, you're with me for the east."

"I think we all know I work best alone," Rumple reminded him.

"No time to argue that," Charming agreed. "Belle, how are you at tracking?"

"Uh, actually, I think I'll be more helpful at the library," she replied. "Maybe I can dig something up on the Snow Queen."

Elsa stood up where she'd been sitting in a chair and looked at her.

"I'd like to come with you, Belle, if that's okay. Maybe something about my sister will be there, too. Unless, you'd rather not have the company."

"No, not at all. I would love some."

Elsa and Belle left and then Rumple left.

Belle was in a corner, looking at an old map of Arendelle, when Elsa spoke after examining a bookshelf of books, her back turned to Belle. When she spoke, Belle put the map away.

"There doesn't seem to be anything on Arendelle here. Do you know where to look?"

Elsa turned around to look at her.

"No. I'm sorry. I'm really not that familiar with Arendelle. Or your sister."

The Snow Queen had just left her ice cream truck, when Katherine spotted it and spoke into the walkie talkie.

"David, call off the search party. We found the truck near the Merry Men's camp."

She put her walkie talkie away and approached Robin.

"Thanks for keeping an eye out."

"Gladly. You're the first sheriff I don't mind assisting."

Katherine walked ahead, Hook at her side, Regina behind her.

Robin fell in step beside Regina.

"Uh, Regina, I was hoping we could talk."

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, I'm about to storm an evil ice cream truck."

Regina walked ahead of him and went to walk next to Katherine, Hook now behind Robin.

"You could have said 'Maybe later'," Katherine told her.

"I know you try to make everything better, but staying out of it is your best bet. It's bad enough I'm stuck with you and Captain Guy-liner making eyes at each other."

"I don't make eyes," Katherine told her, as she walked ahead of Katherine, and Hook caught up with Katherine to walk beside her again.

He looked at her.

"Ready, love?" He then walked ahead towards the truck.

They entered the truck.

"It appears she beat us to it," Hook commented, since they didn't see anything in there. "She's cleared out her vessel."

"What now? Should we question the cows she gets her milk from? Maybe search the waffle cone factory?" Regina questioned Katherine, looking at her.

Katherine noticed a lock on the freezer she knew ice cream was usually stored and grabbed the lock in her hand, looking at it.

"Hang on. Look. Who locks their freezer? Was she afraid someone was gonna steal the Rocky Road?"

"Stand back," Hook warned, and Katherine obeyed. He used his hooked hand to open the lock, which worked.

Katherine opened the freezer and saw a folder and opened it up, which had information on Katherine.

"It looks like the Dairy Queen's been looking for me for a long time."

"Since when?" Regina questioned.

"Since before I ended up in this town," she replied, and handed Regina the paper in her hand, which had part of a newspaper that was showing the gruesome sight she hadn't seen since 1492. The night she'd found her villagers and parents slaughtered, though the paper only showed her parents.

Belle and Elsa were at the library. Elsa was sitting at a table, Belle standing by it with a book in her hand.

"Are you okay?" Belle asked, since snow was forming around her.

Elsa made the snow disappear and then said, "This is pointless. I don't know why I thought I'd find anything about Anna in here."

"You know she's somewhere. You know she's alive. You heard her heartbeat with Bo Peep's staff, right?"

"But if what the Snow Queen told me is true, and Anna is the one who put me in that urn, then maybe she doesn't want me to find her."

"That's not true, Elsa," Belle assured her.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"No, I promise you, I'm not."

"How would you know what my sister thinks? You've never even met her."

"Well, just from what you've been saying, I feel like I know her. You two were very close. Something must have pulled you apart. Something beyond your control."

"But my memories are gone. And no one in this town has even been to Arendelle. I need to face the truth, Belle. No one here can help me. And I'm afraid that means I might never see Anna again."

"Look, you will," Belle assured her, a hand on top of hers. "I know it. Now keep looking. I'll be back."

"What? Where are you going?"

"There's something I need to take care of. We will find Anna."

Regina was standing by a tree, thinking, when Robin saw her after one of his Merry Men left, and Robin approached her.

"I can't help but think you're avoiding me."

Regina began to walk away from him.

"Well, not very well it seems."

"You're upset because of what I said. That I'm still in love with you."

"I suppose I should never have told you."

"That's not why I'm avoiding you," she assured him.

She turned around to face him and he stood in front of her.

"Then why can't you look me in the eye?"

"Because I don't know how to tell you the truth."

"You know you can tell me anything."

"Nothing I do seems to be good enough," Regina informed him.

"But it will be, Regina. I have faith in you. You will figure out a way eventually."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you. I'm not sure I can figure it out."

Rumple was by himself in another part of the woods.

"You can show yourself, dearie. I'm not the one you're hiding from."

The Snow Queen stood against a tree, a hand on her hip.

"No, you're not."

"To what do I owe this intrusion?"

"A warning. Katherine Pierce is on to you. She knows you've been looking for her long before you came to Storybrooke."

"I'm aware. Do you really think she would have discovered that if I hadn't wanted her to? It's all part of my plan," she replied, as she walked around. "A plan you thankfully know little about."

"You're being awfully secretive," he replied, suspicious of what her plan may be.

"You didn't come to warn me. You came to find out my secrets."

"Or offer up a deal. Whatever suits you best. But if you decline, I'd be careful."

"There it is! There's the warning. You want something out of me? Why don't you just ask for it?"

"If I wanted something out of you, dearie, believe me, I'd take it."

"But you can't, can you? Otherwise, you would. You and I both know to get what you want, you need one thing that I have and you're sorely lacking. Leverage. And until you get that, I have a warning for you. Stay out of my way," the Snow Queen replied, as if she knew him all too well.

Snow went to a closet at the shop and grabbed her coat and put her boots on and grabbed an axe. She looked at it.

"Don't worry, Anna. I'll find you," she said, having met Anna before when she'd once visited Arendelle to get her memories restored of what had happened to her mother, since she didn't remember how her mother had died during the Ogre war. She was determined to find her, since she wanted to make what she did a long time ago better.

She was ready to leave, when Rumple entered the shop.

"Belle, where are you headed?" he greeted.

"To the North Woods. Where the Snow Queen's hiding."

"And what business do you have with her?" he wanted to know.

"I have to fix a mistake that I made a long time ago."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. You wouldn't understand."

"Whether or not that's true, the fact remains that she defeated both Katherine and Regina. She is far more dangerous than you realize."

"I know. That's why I was hoping you'd come with me."

"I'm sorry, Belle, that's out of the question," he said, not wanting harm to come to either her or himself. "I won't let you anywhere near her," he added, walking around her.

"I was worried you were going to say that," she said, and set the axe down. Then she pulled out the dagger. "Because I really, really didn't want to do this."

He turned to look at her and saw the dagger in her hand.

"Belle, I gave you that dagger because I trusted you. Because I thought you would never control me."

"I know. I know, and I'm so, so sorry, Rumple. But if you won't come with me willingly, what choice do I have?" She stood just inches in front of him and raised the dagger towards him. "Take me to the Snow Queen."

Hook and Katherine were outside the ice cream truck, Katherine walking around with the papers in her hand, looking to see how well she had searched into her history. When she did, she realized that the Snow Queen knew almost everything about her and that was how long she had looked for her. She still didn't understand how the Snow Queen would know of her, though. She'd never been to the enchanted forest until the past couple years ago up to this year if she counted all the times she'd accidentally been sucked into a portal that had made her end up there. When she mentioned to Hook about the fact that the Snow Queen knew almost everything about her and mentioned one place that she'd been the longest at, he said, "Aye?"

"That's the longest I was ever in one spot," she informed him.

"You all right, Pierce?"

"I'm fine. It was all a long time ago," she assured him, sitting down on a log, Hook standing by her.

"Perhaps, but wounds that are made when we're young tend to linger."

"How would you know?"

"Believe it or not, I was once a child."

"Yeah, like a million years ago."

"It's more like 200."

Katherine opened up the folder again and saw more of her own history.

Hook saw her look.

"What is it?"

"It's a drawing I did when I was younger," she explained.

"Is that so surprising?"

"This is most of my history. You don't keep stuff like this unless you care about someone."

"Well, perhaps the Snow Queen wasn't simply looking for you," he suggested. "Perhaps she'd grown fond of you over time."

"There has to be a clue as to why she would go through all this trouble to look for me."

He noticed a scroll in the pile.

"Perhaps there is. If you read hieroglyphs."

She took it, looking at it.

"This isn't from my world," she stated.

Rumple and Belle were outside the cave where the Snow Queen was living.

"This is it? This is where she's hiding?" Belle asked him.

"Indeed. But she's not at home. I don't sense her magic."

"Good. Okay, you stay here as lookout. I'm going in."

"Belle, you're not going in there alone."

"Look, I won't be long. I just need to find something."

"What could you possibly want from the Snow Queen's cave?"

"A hat. One that can strip a magical being of their powers."

Rumple knew the hat she was referring to was the hat he had in his safe at the shop.

"Sounds like a remarkable object. Almost too good to be true. Which means it probably is."

"It isn't and I know she has it. And I need to get it from her. It's the only way to force her to tell us where Anna is."

"So this is about Elsa's sister?" he questioned. "Why are you so invested in a girl you've never even met?"

"Because a hero always helps strangers." She held up the dagger. "Now keep watch. I'll call out to you if I need your help."

Belle entered the cave and it immediately became freezing once she entered it.

"The hat must be in here somewhere."

When she heard something with her voice calling to her, she took a sheet off of the mirror and it began to tell her things. After a few minutes or so, Rumple came in to let her know that the Snow Queen was coming and he made her and himself appear in the shop. That's when she realized something.

"I hurt you. I'm so sorry, Rumple."

She let the dagger fall to the floor and sank to her knees.

Rumple knelt in front of her, assuring her that it was okay.

"When I found that mirror, something came over me, like a spell. And it spoke to me, and made me…Made me believe all these horrible things. And it said to me that the dagger you gave me is fake."

"I can assure you that nothing that mirror said is true. It was imbued with the darkest of magic. I know you would never wrong me."

"I have wronged you," she replied. "I've kept a terrible secret from you. I'm the reason that Anna's missing. I didn't want anyone to know until I could make things right and save Anna. But I couldn't. I failed. And all I managed to do was abuse the dagger and take advantage of you. My true love. I don't even know if I deserve to be with you anymore."

"No, no, no. You were only doing what you thought was right."

"You forgive me?"

"Of course I forgive you."

They hugged.

"Thank you for telling me everything," he said, as they hugged.

"Thank you for understanding. I never should've kept a secret from you. Especially, 'cause I know that you'd never keep one from me. I love you, Rumple."

"And I love you, too."

Rumple entered the cave, where the Snow Queen was siting in her chair made of ice.

"I'm afraid we have a problem, dearie. I caught a glimpse of your mirror today."

"It's rather impressive, isn't it?" she commented, seeming to not be worried. She stood up. "I had no idea your bride would be so easy to turn." She approached him.

"Watch yourself," he warned her. "Now, I don't know exactly when you intend to use this mirror, but you should know this, I won't allow you to hurt those I care about."

He looked into the mirror.

"And I won't allow you to derail my plans because you've suddenly gotten sentimental."

"You only get one warning."

"Which is more than you get. I can't make any promises over who may or may not survive."

He turned around to face her.

"You know, you were wrong before."

"That you needed leverage to get what you want?"

"No, that I didn't have it. I do." He made the hat appear in its full form, in his hand.

She looked at it for a few moments and was suddenly afraid, but kept it together.

"Where did you get that?"

"Oh, that's irrelevant," he told her. "But now that I know what you're up to, we can have a real talk. You might wanna reconsider your position. Because I doubt you'd enjoy becoming just another embroidery on this hat. Looks like you've just lost your leverage, dearie."

Katherine was at the station with Elsa whom had found something about the Snow Queen, both standing at a desk, Hook by a desk behind them.

"The Snow Queen is your aunt?" Katherine questioned.

"According to this heraldry book I found in the library. Her name is Ingrid. I didn't even know my mother had any sisters. I'm as surprised as you are."

Hook grabbed some stuff from the desk behind Elsa and walked over.

"Well, spend a little more time in this town, love, you'll realize just about everyone's related."

"This book traces the lineage in Arendelle for generations." Elsa pointed to a picture. "That's Gerda. My mother. And this is Helga, my other aunt."

Hook looked at the picture.

"Bloody hell, Pierce. Look at her. She looks just like you. Maybe that's why she's so obsessed with you."

Katherine looked at the picture closer and knew he was right.

"Why she kept all those relics from your past."

Elsa picked up the scroll and looked at it.

"She came to this world looking for brunettes? There's a lot more than just me."

"Don't I know it."

She looked over at him and he gave her a smile.

"She wasn't looking for a brunette. She was looking for the Savior."

"What?" Katherine questioned.

"The scroll, the writing is Runic. It's a prophecy. It says, "The name of the Savior is Katherine."

"She knew?" Katherine questioned.

"Before you even did. She knew you were powerful."

"But why?" Katherine asked, and looked over at Hook.

"It says it right here, "And the Savior shall become Ingrid's sister."

"What the hell does that mean?" Katherine asked. She had enough Petrova family. She didn't want any more.

"Well, my mother died. And her other sister, she's not around anymore. I think Ingrid believes in this prophecy. I think she's looking to replace them."

Belle entered the station.

"Elsa."

Elsa looked at Belle.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. But…"

"What?"

"I've been keeping a secret. I know your sister, Anna. She helped me once. But when I had a chance to help her, I let her down. And because I did, she was captured by the Snow Queen."

"What? Where did this happen? When?" Elsa immediately questioned her.

"Arendelle. Long, long time ago. And I have no idea where she is now. But I'm afraid we have a more pressing concern. The Snow Queen has a mirror, imbued with terrible magic that can do terrible things."

"A mirror? Easy enough. Let's just go smash it," Hook commented.

Belle went over to stand by Hook, looking at him.

"It's not that simple. Rumple told me it's part of an awful spell. The spell of Shattered Sight. If she casts it, its magic will make everyone in Storybrooke turn on one another."

"Bloody hell, the entire town will destroy itself," Hook realized.

"And there'd be no one left," Belle added.

"Except us," Katherine realized, assuming Ingrid's plan now, looking at Elsa.

"What makes you think that she'd spare you and Elsa?" Belle wanted to know, looking at Katherine and Elsa.

"Because of this," she said, pointing to the book.

"She wants it to be just the three of us," Elsa said.

"Her prefect family," Katherine said, looking at Elsa.

 **Ch.66: The Snow Queen**

Regina was in her vault, reading a book, when Robin entered.

"Hello, Regina," he greeted her.

She looked up from where she was standing with a book in her hand.

She set the book down on the nearby brown chest.

"I told you it was best to stay away."

"I know."

"Then why are you here?" she wanted to know.

"Honestly? I don't know. My mind was in the forest, but my heart took me here." He went to stand in front of her.

"Robin," was all she could say, before walking out of her vault, leaving him there.

Katherine set an opened book down in front of the computer on the desk Elsa was sitting at.

"Belle found something in here. A spell. It may be able to work against the Snow Queen."

"You don't mean kill her?" Elsa questioned.

"No, no one's killing anyone. It'll just neutralize her powers. Maybe," Katherine assured her.

"Can you read this?" Elsa asked, looking at the book.

"Elvish? No, but Belle translated it."

She took a folded paper out of her back pocket and unfolded it, handing it to Elsa.

"It tells us how to enact the spell."

Elsa began to read it.

"With both hands, hold the candle and then use your magic to light it. And then when you blow on it…"

"Then bam! She's right back to selling ice cream," Katherine interrupted her. "My guess is business will be down."

"Maybe without her powers, we can talk to her," Elsa suggested. "We can find Anna. We can get some real answers."

"Does your sister have magic?" Katherine wanted to know.

"No. I think that's why the Snow Queen's so interested in you." Elsa stood up.

"Yeah," Katherine replied, and pushed in the chair.

"Does anyone in your family have magic?" Elsa asked.

"No. Not exactly. My parents didn't have magic as far as I know, although doppelgangers were kind of made through magic. There's at least one every century. My daughter had Traveler magic, but she had more control and knew how to use it, which is where I learned about my Traveler magic. I've never actually practiced with it. I didn't even know I was descended from Travelers until my daughter told me years ago."

"It's hard when they look at you differently, isn't it?" Elsa replied.

"Well, my vampire family do, but my blood related family, never did."

"You're lucky," Elsa replied. "Okay, should we try this?"

Katherine held the candle and used magic to light it. She then blew on it and the fire from the lit candle came towards Elsa and a spark hit her dress and went out. The candle stopped being lit.

"I'm sorry. Should we try again?" Elsa said.

"Later. I have to meet Mary Margaret. I'm supposed to babysit tonight," Katherine informed her, and set the candle on the desk.

"Life goes on," Elsa replied, understanding.

"We'll find her," Katherine assured her, and grabbed her jacket, heading out.

"It's okay. Go. I'll be here."

Snow approached Katherine with baby Neal.

"Is Neal ready?" Katherine asked her.

"Yes. Oh, just a few things. Uh, diaper bag, stroller, milk." Snow picked the milk up.

"He sure has a lot of stuff," Katherine commented, having never raised a child or babysat before.

"Well, I wanted to give him everything."

Ashley came over to them.

"Katherine!" She gave her a hug.

"Oh, Ashley, look at you, the baby whisperer."

"What can I say, I just took to it. Now if you need help getting him to sleep, just tell him he's gonna turn into a pumpkin by midnight."

"So, this is what you do here? You give sleeping tips and sing songs and…"

"Oh, it's more than that. It's like having a support group. I mean, being a first-time mother is not easy."

She looked at Snow.

"This is exciting. Mommy and Me classes and songs and first steps. It all must be really exciting."

She suddenly saw their looks.

"What?"

"The bottle," Ashley stated.

When she looked at the bottle she was holding of Neal's, she saw that it was glowing.

"Oh. Uh…" It stopped glowing and she looked at them. "It's just, you know, magic. I've been practicing to try to capture the Snow Queen. And I guess I must just still be a little revved up." She put the bottle back in the stroller where it belonged.

She got ready for Snow to hand Neal over, but Snow pulled back, not knowing what to think of what had just happened.

A moment later, Katherine's phone went off, so Katherine answered it.

"Hello?"

"Katherine, there's something going on at the clock tower," Charming informed her. "There was a trail going upstairs. A frozen trail."

"The Snow Queen. Is she still up there?"

"Well, the trail goes up, doesn't come down."

"All right, I'll be right there." She hung up and looked at them. "The Snow Queen is in the clock tower. I guess I'll have to take a rain check on babysitting."

Snow gave a nod and Katherine left.

Katherine entered the clock tower and went upstairs with Elsa.

"Hey!" Katherine said to the Snow Queen, whom then turned to look at her and through some ice at her.

"Katherine, now!" Elsa said.

They did what they had practiced, which worked. Magic in the color of gold appeared on her wrists and the Snow Queen seemed to not be able to get free from it. Then the gold magic turned into shackles.

"You did it," Elsa said.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Katherine replied, though she was thinking that it had been a little too easy.

Elsa hugged her and she hugged back.

"You got me," the Snow Queen said.

Katherine and Elsa entered the interrogation room that the Snow Queen sat in at a table.

"All right, Queenie, time to talk," Katherine stated.

"Ooh. You should get that looked at, Katherine," the Snow Queen said, seeing a small cut on the side of her neck that she'd caused when she'd thrown ice at her.

"Oh, now you want to play nice?" Katherine inquired.

"With you two?" the Snow Queen said. "Don't you understand? That's all I've ever wanted."

"We don't care what you want. Where is Anna?" Elsa demanded of her.

"She's alive. We know it. We heard her heartbeat," Katherine added.

"You heard her heartbeat?" the Snow Queen inquired.

"From Bo Peep's crook," Elsa clarified.

"Sounds like someone's grasping at straws about their long-lost sister."

"What happened to her?"

"I'm not sure you should care. I told you, she's the one who put you in that urn. I have no idea why you'd want to find someone like that."

"Because she is my sister and she would never do what you say."

"Or she's your sister and she couldn't handle what you, what we are, and she did exactly as I said."

Elsa smacked her hands on the table and yelled, "No!"

"Elsa! Please," Katherine said calmly.

The Snow Queen smiled.

Katherine put a hand on her shoulder and then opened the door and said, as she had Elsa leave the room, "Take it easy. She's getting under your skin. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgment. If we want answers, we have to be calm."

"She knows what happened to Anna."

"And we're gonna figure it all out. You go help David and Hook try to figure out how to take apart her mirror. I got this."

"Katherine…," Elsa said.

"I got it."

Elsa nodded and then left.

Katherine stood for a moment with a made face, and then closed the door behind herself and went to stand not far from the table.

"Okay. Now it's just me."

"Good. You're the one I wanted to talk to anyway."

Katherine sat down in a chair across from her.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. You want me to turn to the dark side and be your sister, buddy, something-or-other. Not interested."

"I'm so proud of you, Katherine."

"No, that's not gonna work. You're not gonna push my buttons."

"I'm being completely sincere," the Snow Queen assured her. "Look and you'll see I'm telling the truth."

"Don't talk to me like we're friends."

"We're not friends, Katherine, we're family."

"I know that's what you want, but whatever happened in the past with you, I know enough to tell you about the future. And what you want? It ain't gonna happen, sister."

"Oh, but it will," the Snow Queen replied. "You see, at the end of the day, you'll understand that everything that I've been saying is true. And then you'll do the last thing in the world you think possible right now."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"You're going to let me go." She sighed. "Now, then. What would you like to talk about?"

Regina was in a chair in her living room, looking through Henry's book, the fireplace on, when she saw that a new story had appeared.

"Hey, mom. Could you help me with this thing?" Henry asked, entering the living room.

She looked at her son.

"Look at you all dressed up. What's the occasion?"

"I'm getting married," he joked.

She gave him a look.

"Work," Henry added, this time being serious. "With grandpa. At the shop. He said if I was gonna learn the family business, I'd have to represent the family business. Which would be fine if it didn't also mean wearing a tie."

She got to her feet and went to stand in front of him.

"Well, I think you look very handsome," she said, as she fixed his tie for him.

She walked away, about to go back to what she was doing, when he asked her what had happened.

She turned around to look at him.

"What do you mean?"

"You were tearing through the book with your scary face on. Did something happen with Robin Hood?"

"No. I'm just…," she began, and then changed the subject, walking back over to him. "From now on, Operation Mongoose will be my main focus. We will find the author."

"Good. And I have a few ideas about where to look for clues next in the shop."

"Now get to work."

Henry left.

Katherine set a glad of water down in front of the Snow Queen.

"So, the spell of shattered sight. Pretty impressive stuff," Katherine said, standing not far from the table.

"What does it mean? You've stopped me."

"That's right. I did. We know who you are. We know what you're planning. And we know that for some sick, twisted reason, you want Elsa and me to replace your long-lost sisters."

"Well, then. You have all your answers. May I retire to my cell now?"

"No. I want to know why. Why have you been tracking me my whole life?"

"I was trying to protect you, Katherine."

"I can protect myself. You see, no. You and I? We are not family. I have one of those and it spans 2,000 years," she replied, since she knew that doppelgangers had been first made when Quetsyiah had been alive.

"Family isn't about blood. It is a bond far stronger than mere genetics. Elsa and I are your real family. Because we are the only ones like you, we belong together. The family that you think you have, they may love you, but they also fear you."

"No, they don't," she replied.

"You've never seen them wince at your power? You've never seen a twinge of panic just behind their eyes? Not even once? I find that hard to believe."

"They love me for who I am, including my powers," she replied, though she couldn't help but to remember earlier when Snow had been afraid of what she'd been able to do with the milk bottle. She knew her real family didn't fear her, though. It was more mixed between hate and love.

"I thought that once, too, Katherine."

Elsa was at the clock tower examining the mirror, Hook standing back a ways.

"This is what we've been worried about? Shouldn't it be shaking or doing something evil?" Hook inquired.

"Agreed," Elsa replied. "It feels like just a harmless looking glass to me."

"I've found nothing to counteract the spell yet," Belle said, as she came up the stairs. She then closed the book and told Hook, "Hey! Stop! Do not look in that thing. It'll make you see the worst in yourself."

"It must be broken. I've been staring at it all day and I think I'm even more devilishly handsome and charming than usual."

Belle cautiously approached and looked into the mirror. That's when she noticed it.

"This isn't the same mirror."

"Why would the Snow Queen risk coming all the way out here to plant a fake mirror?" Elsa asked, looking at Belle.

Charming whom had been silently standing on the sidelines, looking at Hook whom looked back at him, both realizing that same things at the same moment.

"Because she wanted to get caught," Charming stated.

Hook and Charming both left the clocktower to make sure Katherine was okay.

The Snow Queen twirled a couple fingers and the police station doors began to freeze over, just as everyone that was at the clock tower, approached.

"Katherine! Katherine!" Charming called, as he tried to get the doors open, but they were all ice.

Robin was at Granny's, playing the target game. He missed the target completely, because the target went onto the wall instead of the target circle. He then took a drink from his shot glass he had on the nearby booth table.

Will entered the diner. Then, when he saw Robin, he turned around to leave, and Robin saw him and through a target by the door.

"I can explain," Will assured him.

"No need. Another for me. And one for Mr. Will Scarlet," he said.

A few minutes later, they were at the bar, having a drink next to each other.

"I really do want to make amends, you know," Will told him. "For what I did to you and the Merry Men at Sherwood Forest."

"You nearly got us all killed."

"Nearly. Surely that's worth something?"

"Because of a woman. And where is she now?" When Will was silent and looked away, Robin realized that something had happened. "I'm sorry."

Will looked at him.

"I chose my path. Sometimes even when you win, you lose."

"Did I ever tell you how I met Mirian?"

"Only about three dozen times."

"I stole her father's horse."

"Three dozen and one."

"I was just a two-bit thief in those days. I didn't even need it. I already had two horses back at the camp."

"That night you woke to an arrow pointed at your head," Will said, having memorized the story.

"Her family, she said, were poor farmers. The little that they had was held together by that prized steed. I didn't say a word as she rode off that night. But the next day, I returned to her cottage…"

"With two of your own horses as a gift to her family. And from that day forward, you never stole for yourself again. From that day forward, you only stole from the rich, and gave to the poor."

"She made me the man that I am today, Will. I need to remember that."

"It wasn't easy for her, you know," Will replied. "Living like an outlaw. I asked her once how she gave up everything to be with you. Do you know what she told me?"

"What?"

"She said, "There's good in him, Will. And when you see the good in someone, you don't give up on them. Especially if they don't see it themselves. And if you're ever lucky enough to find true love, you fight for it. Every day."

"You still believe that?" Robin asked him. "After everything you did for love? Was it worth it?"

"Mate, if you find someone you love enough to ruin your entire life for, it's always worth it."

Rumple had just sent Henry into the back to polish the furniture, when he saw Belle come in with Charming, Hook, and Elsa.

"Well, this kind of procession never bodes well."

"The Snow Queen iced over the locks of the sheriff's station. Katherine's trapped inside with her," Charming informed him.

"We need your help, Rumple. You must be able to get us in there. Please," Belle said.

"How could I turn down the pleas of my beloved wife?" Rumple said. "After you."

Everyone except for Hook left.

"All right, crocodile. What's your game? The last two villains that came into town tried to kill you. But you seem rather unconcerned by this one. Makes a man wonder if you two have a history."

"You can wonder all you like, dearie. My history, my business."

Katherine was back in the room with the Snow Queen.

"It's understandable you feel upset," the Snow Queen said.

"Now you think you know how I feel?" Katherine inquired, getting frustrated with her.

"I know you better than you know yourself, Katherine." Then she added, "They're using your powers."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it? How many times have you saved them? How often have you felt like more like a savior than what you really are? And all it takes is one tiny mistake. One accident. And you and your powers go from being their salvation to their worst nightmare."

"You don't know them. Or me."

"I don't have to know you, Katherine. I've been you. Different. Misunderstood. Alone."

"They love me," she said, getting angry at her, but doing her best to control it.

The glass of water began to shake.

"You can't love somebody you don't understand. And you know what happens when people don't understand something? They learn to fear it. And then they look at it like a monster."

She slammed her hands on the table and yelled, "Shut up!"

Suddenly, there was a gigantic hole in the wall.

She looked at the Snow Queen whom stood up.

"What did you do to me?"

The Snow Queen made the shackles disappear.

"All I did is show you who you really are."

"Well, make it stop," she said, looking at her hands that were shining with magic.

"I can't. It's you, Katherine," she said with a smile. "And it's beautiful."

A moment later, the Snow Queen disappear in a whirlwind of snow.

Katherine came out of the station through the hole she'd accidentally made and took a look at it.

"What have I done?"

"Katherine!" she heard Charming yell.

She turned around to see them running over to her.

"Are you all right?" Charming added.

"We were so worried," Snow said.

"Wait!" Katherine warned them.

"Seems you didn't need my help after all," Rumple commented.

"Pierce, what did that monster do to the sheriff's station?" Hook inquired.

"The monster who did this was not the Snow Queen. It was me," Katherine answered him.

"What?" Charming inquired.

"Just keep your distance," she warned, when Charming and Hook began to approach. "I don't know if I can control myself. I don't want to hurt anyone," she added, and took a step away, turning away to leave.

"Pierce," Hook said, and went to grab her arm to stop her.

"You should heed her words," Rumple warned, having seen it before.

"Katherine, we can help," Elsa said.

"Just stay away," Katherine warned them all, but Hook grabbed her arm. "Let me go!" she said, and some of her magic shot into a couple streetlights. One of them began to collapse. "Watch out!," Katherine warned, seeing that it was gonna fall on Hook.

Charming got Hook out of the way and part of the fallen streetlight hit Charming's shoulder.

"David!" Snow said, and helped him up.

Snow and Charming looked at Katherine, as Snow yelled at her.

"Katherine!" Then Snow calmed down, saying, "Katherine…Katherine, wait. No, please, come back!"

Katherine began to step back and turn away, as Hook tried to grab her arm, once again.

"Pierce!"

"Katherine!" Henry called.

"It's okay!" Snow tried to assure her. "Katherine!"

Katherine didn't heed any of them, as she ran off.

The Snow Queen watched from behind the corner of a building that was across the street.

Katherine got into her car, upset, and began to drive away.

Regina was back in her vault, reading Henry's book again, when, once again, Robin entered.

"Why am I getting a sense of déjà vu?" Regina said, realizing Robin was there.

"Regina. I have lived by a code my entire life. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. Be truthful, righteous, and good. I have tried to live by that code every day of my life."

"Then why are you here?" Regina wanted to know.

"Because today is not one of those days," he said, before approaching her and then kissing her.

Regina got to her feet, as she kissed him back.

Snow had just layed Neal down for a nap, when Charming and Hook entered the apartment.

"Did you find her?" she asked, approaching them.

"No. We looked everywhere. Which means only one thing," Charming replied, as the three of them stood in the kitchen.

"She doesn't want to be found," Hook said, as Elsa entered the apartment, closing the door behind herself.

"I've been through this," Elsa said. "And I saw the same looks on my loved ones' faces as Katherine just did. I saw fear."

"David, we failed today," Snow said. "When Katherine needed us the most, she looked in our eyes, and all she saw was fear." She sighed. "The Snow Queen has some mirror that turns us against each other? Well, she doesn't need it. Look at us. We're doing it to ourselves."

Katherine sat in her car at the edge of the woods, silent, looking at the town of Storybrooke below.

Rumple was looking at a snow globe, when the Snow Queen entered.

"As someone who's created many monsters in his time, I am impressed by the number you did on Ms. Pierce."

Rumple set the globe down.

"I'm ready to make that deal."

"So." He turned around to look at her, standing in front of the glass counter. "You finally understand what you didn't so many years ago."

"I want my ribbons back," she said, speaking of the three ribbons that years ago, when they'd been young, herself and her two sisters had traded to him for the gloves and the urn, since she'd been afraid that one day she wouldn't be able to control her powers, and that day had come in which it had happened, because she'd accidentally killed one of her sisters and her other sister had put her in the urn to save everyone from any harm after what had happened.

"Then you'll also understand that a deal requires an exchange of goods," Rumple replied. "And I'm no longer convinced you have anything I want."

"You still need one more thing to cleave yourself from that dagger."

"And how do you know about that?"

"I had that hat, longer than you. I learned many things. Among them, the missing piece of your puzzle. Give me my ribbon, I'll tell you what it is. You see, I've figured out your plan. Storybrooke is a small town. Too small for someone as powerful as the Dark One to be content."

"Well, they did close down that ice cream parlor I was so fond of."

"You want to cleave yourself from the dagger so you can venture outside Storybrooke without losing your power, or your precious Belle. You want, in short, what all villains want."

He stood behind the counter and brought out a box that held the three ribbons.

"And what's that?" he asked, opening the box.

"Everything. And I want to give it to you."

"What makes you so generous?"

"What you want is out there, and everything that I want is in here." She tapped her finger on the globe that was on the counter and the globe turned to ice. "Do what you want with the rest of the world. Storybrooke will be mine. Do you want your answer?"

"You know I do," he replied, a ribbon in his hand.

"Then we have a deal." She went to take the ribbon from his hand, but he pulled it back.

"You first," he said, being smart enough not to give it to her until she told him what he wanted to know. "Tell me what I require."

She bent over to his ear and whispered it to him, before pulling away.

"Not only can I do that, but I shall do it with great pleasure."

They looked at each other silently.

 **Ch.67: Smash The Mirror**

*Flashback*

A long time in Arendelle, Ingrid buried the hat. Before she buried it, she iced it over and then covered it with rocks in a cave.

Some time later, she went to visit the wizard's apprentice.

The apprentice was sweeping outside his cottage, when he sensed a presence and then turned around to see her.

"I know who you are," he informed her. "And I can be of no help to you."

"No, of course not," she agreed. "You're an errand boy long past his prime. I wish to speak to the one you work for."

"There are many who desire an audience with The Sorcerer. But he speaks only through his Apprentice."

"Then tell him, Apprentice, I wish to make a deal."

"The Sorcerer does not make petty deals, especially with those who have succumbed to the darkness, like you."

"I think, in this case, he might make a small exception. You see, I have his hat."

"You have no idea the forces you are dealing with." He set the broom against a post and pointed his sword at her.

"Hmm," she said.

"Tell me where it is," he demanded of her.

"Oh, no. Did you think that I was foolish enough to bring it with me? The hat is hidden far away. And unless he gives me what I want, The Sorcerer will never see his hat again."

She removed the tip of his sword from her neck and he pointed his sword to the ground.

"And what is it that you so desire?" he asked of her.

"Happiness. A kind I haven't known in a long time. Since I was a little girl, running in a field with my sisters, chasing a kite. Our love made us strong, until it didn't. My sisters could never accept who I was because they were…ordinary. I want two new sisters born with magic, like me. My niece, Elsa, will be joining me. We need a third magical sister. A perfect match."

"A match like that will be extremely hard to come by. It could take time."

"Tell The Sorcerer I am a very patient woman. I am willing to wait as long as it takes to find a perfect sister," she replied.

*Present*

Katherine was asleep in her car, but woke up when she felt something and her hands were like electricity. She took her jacket off and shook them a little.

"Okay, come on. Calm down," she said, assuming her magic was tied to her emotions. She then got out and put hands on top of her car and closed her eyes, trying to calm down.

"Katherine?" she heard a familiar voice say, and turned around to see Henry. She hadn't wanted to be found, because she didn't want to hurt anyone with her magic, but apparently, she'd been found anyway.

"Henry, what are you doing here?" she asked, though she assumed why he was there. Everyone probably wanted her to come home, thinking they could help her control her magic, but right now, she figured she was better on her own in learning to control it.

"I've been out all night looking for you. Everyone has."

"I told them all to stay away. I can't control my powers right now. Listen, don't worry about me, I'm going to find a way to fix this, but until I do, you gotta go."

"No," he replied. "You always think that pulling away from people will fix your problems, but it never does. I can help you." He began to walk towards her.

"Henry, just wait. I…," she began, trying to warn him to stay back while she tried to control it.

He reached and put a hand on her wrist to try and help, and was thrown backward.

"Henry!" she said. "Henry, are you okay?" she added, when he landed by a log and a plant. She didn't dare go to him, afraid of hurting him.

"I'm fine," he assured her. He felt a little bit of the back of his head with a couple of his fingers and there was a bit of blood.

"Is that a cut? Henry, what did I do?" she said, seeing that.

He got up.

"It's fine. I'm okay."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she replied.

"Katherine…," he began, as he approached once again.

"Stop! Please, don't come any closer," she pleaded with him. "I love you, kid, but you gotta go. Just go!"

Some magic struck from her hands and disappeared just inches from where he stood and he stepped back a little.

She watched, as he ran off.

She looked at her hands, which now seemed to not be glowing anymore. Then she heard a voice behind her. One she didn't want to hear. Someone she didn't want to see when she was dealing with this.

"I know exactly how you feel, seeing the fear in his eyes," the Snow Queen said from behind Katherine.

Katherine froze, as she heard her. Then she turned around to see her and magic shot from her hands and past the Snow Queen.

The Snow Queen watched with a smile and then looked at Katherine.

"You are out of control. But, Katherine, you're not going to hurt me, nor should you. I'm on your side."

The Snow Queen began to approach.

Katherine began to walk around and away from her.

"Just leave me the hell alone."

"You can run, but it won't help. The only way this ends is you embracing who you are."

Katherine opened the door to her car and looked at her.

"If it means hurting people I love? No, thanks."

Katherine got in and drove off, as the Snow Queen watched.

Regina was in her vault, putting her shoes on. She looked at her phone and then set it back down on the step she was sitting on. She then looked up to see Robin walking over to her jeans and a white tank top.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"Well, look who's finally woken up," Regina said, and got to her feet.

"I apologize, but, uh, that was the best sleep I've had in a long time."

She gave a smile at that.

"How would you like to come back to my camp and let me cook you breakfast?" he offered.

"Oh, that sounds lovely, but we both know we can't do that."

"Yeah, you're probably right," he replied. "Little John is a bit of a gossip."

They both chuckled at that.

He rested a hand on the side of her face. "There it is. There's that elusive but satisfying smile I think about every time I close my eyes."

A moment later, they were kissing, yet again.

They pulled away.

"This makes me wonder why we didn't do this a few decades ago," she commented.

"Well, I think you were suffering from a bit of a heartbreak and a touch of self-loathing. And I was just some drunk in a bar with a tattoo."

He rested a hand on the left side of her face with his right hand.

"Who Tinkerbell said I was destined to be with," Regina reminded him. "I should've listened to that stupid fairy. Things might have turned out differently had I chosen you over…Well, instead of evil."

"Mmm. You made mistakes and now you're making up for them," he assured her.

He was going to kiss her again, but then she said, "Or digging myself in deeper."

She let go of him and walked over to where she had her mirror on the wall and an assortment of other things.

He walked up to her, as he asked, "Are you really that much of a pessimist?"

"Oh, you would be, too, if you knew everything I did." She picked up Henry's book. "Have you seen this before?"

He shook his head. "No."

"It's a magical storybook, which we're all written into." She opened it to where she had it bookmarked with the book's string bookmark. "And there's me walking away from you at the bar."

"Where did this come from?" he asked, holding it and looking at the page.

"I don't know. It appeared when Henry needed it most. Full of stories about heroes and villains. Guess which column I'm in."

He looked at her and closed the book.

"This book is about the past. Like you said, you're not the Evil Queen anymore."

He set the book down and she chuckled at that.

He looked at her, as she replied, saying, "Tell that to the author, because he seems to have made it a rule that villains don't get happy endings. Even if they change, even if they try to be good."

He stood in front of her.

"Point him to me. I'd be happy to have more than a conversation."

She scoffed at that.

"I wish it were that simple. But I don't know where he is, or who he is. Or if it's a he or a she, or an it. I've searched everywhere and I've been failing."

"Regina, let me help," he offered.

"You can't," she replied. "And this cannot happen a second time. You understand."

"I know, and I agree. But if we don't leave this room, then I think that this still just counts as the first time, don't you?"

He put hands on her waist and they walked backwards until she had her back against a wall close by.

She gave a smile at that. Then they began to kiss yet again.

Snow, Charming, Elsa, and Hook returned to the apartment after a long night of searching for Katherine. Charming took his jacket off and set it down.

"You'd think a big yellow driving machine would be easier to find," Elsa commented.

Snow was silent with a hand to her forehead, as if she was trying to think.

"Perhaps she doesn't want to be found. Since, you know, that's what she bloody told us," Hook reminded them.

"Well, the good news is, thanks to the ice wall, Katherine can't leave town," Charming replied.

"But the longer she isolates herself, the worse it'll get," Elsa reminded him, sitting at the kitchen counter they usually ate at. "Her magic will just keep spiraling."

Snow was standing by the window and listening to Elsa. She came over to them and said, "Elsa's right. This was a bad idea, coming home. We should still be out there searching."

Elsa turned to look at Snow, as she said that.

Charming was standing by the kitchen cupboards and told her, "This isn't your fault. It isn't. We'll find Katherine, but we've been searching all night. Everyone's exhausted, yourself included, s we refuel, we regroup." Hook gave him a look at that. "Then we go out and we find her. Okay?"

"Okay," Snow agreed.

They heard the door and turned to see Henry walk in.

"You don't have to look anymore."

Hook, Charming, and Elsa approached.

"Henry," Charming greeted.

"We thought you were asleep upstairs. We told you to stay here," Snow said.

His head was hurting again, so he touched his head again where he had earlier.

"I snuck out, okay?" Henry informed them. "I'm sorry, but I found her."

"How is she?" Snow wanted to know.

"Is she okay? She hurt?" Charming questioned.

"She's out in the woods. I thought I could help calm her down, but when I showed up, it just made things worse."

Snow approached him.

"Come with me, I'll clean you up in the bathroom."

Henry went to the bathroom with her.

"This is bad news," Charming stated. "If anyone can calm her down, it's Henry."

"When your powers are out of control, everything's upside down, and you don't want to be anywhere near the people you care about," Elsa informed him.

"Wonderful! Well, should we send Sneezy after her then, or Happy?" Hook commented sarcastically. "Which is the dwarf she despises?"

"I was so scared that I would hurt Anna, until I finally realized you can't run away from the people who love you because in the end, they're the only ones who can help you," Elsa continued.

Rumple entered his shop, only to see that a few of his things were either moving on their own or turning on and off on their own, so he assumed who it was.

"If you're trying to hide from me, Ms. Pierce, you're doing a poor job."

"I'm not hiding from you," she assured him, and came out from the back. "I'm hiding from everyone else."

"Yeah, so Belle tells me," he said, once she stood in front of him. "She was watching Neal all night."

"While everyone else was searching for me, I know. My magic is hurting people, Gold, people I love. I need you to help me control it."

"What makes you think I'm your best option?"

"Because I hurt Henry."

"What?" he asked, as he went to stand behind his glass counter.

"He's okay, but it was just luck. You're probably the only person who's safe around me right now. I need you to help before I hurt anybody else."

"There's only one way to help with this affliction."

"Well, just fine. Do it."

"You haven't heard what I have to say."

"I don't care. Henry is in pain because of me. Just fix it."

He took a folded piece of paper out of a book, unfolded it, and put it in front of her.

"This…this is an ancient spell. It's designed to take away light magic from those who choose to part with it. But the effect would be permanent," he explained to her.

"So I'd lose all my magic? I'd be…"

"Ordinary," he finished for her. "But your magic would no longer hurt the ones you love, and you would be able to embrace Henry."

She put a hand on a book and she felt some pain and when she took it away, there was an imprint from her hand.

"Do it," she demanded.

"Well, unfortunately, Savior magic doesn't go quietly. Though the spell won't hurt you, it will destroy almost everything else within a city block. That would make for quite a macabre sight at Granny's, don't you think?"

"So, let's find somewhere else. Out in the woods," she replied, desperate.

"As you wish. I think I know just the spot." He took out a map and put it on the counter. "Here." He circled part of the woods with a pen. "There's an abandoned manor right here. You meet me here at sundown, and I'll have everything prepared."

"Thanks, Gold. Please don't tell anyone I was here."

"Don't worry about me, dearie. It'll be our little secret."

After she left the shop, he tossed the paper in the trash can that he'd told her was an ancient spell.

Snow and Charming were sitting at the table, Hook sitting in a corner not far away, when Elsa came down the stairs.

"How is he?" Snow asked her.

"I gave him enough ice for the week. It should help with the swelling."

"No, how is he?" Snow clarified.

"Upset. I just wanted him to understand. Katherine's magic is tied to her emotions like mine. The reason she hurt him is because she was trying so hard not to hurt him. It sounds very convoluted when I try to explain it now."

"No. No," Snow assured her and stood up. "It makes perfect sense."

Regina stormed inside, closing the door behind herself.

"Where's Henry? Is he okay?"

"He's fine. He's upstairs," Charming assured her. "We've been trying to call you all night."

"Well, I'm sorry if I don't respond to your every summons! Though I did bring that locator potion you wanted." She set it down on the table. "Maybe next time try leading with, "Thank you"." She turned around to look at Snow. "Now, may I see my son, please?"

"You might want to finish buttoning your shirt first," Snow suggested.

Regina didn't realize she hadn't finished buttoning it, so she began to finish it, as she said, "Oh. Well, I was in a rush to get here." Regina then headed up the stairs.

Snow came over to the table and Elsa picked the vial up.

"Locator potion. How does this work exactly?" Elsa wanted to know.

"Oh, we just pour it over anything that belonged to Katherine," Charming informed her, as he stood up. "Something…something like this." He went over to the table Hook was sitting at and staring at a map. Charming grabbed a red scarf.

Snow's cell rang.

"It's here," Snow said, and picked up.

"Hey, it's me. Did Henry come home?" Katherine greeted her.

"Oh, yes, yes. No, he's fine. Katherine, I am so sorry about what happened yesterday. I don't want you to ever think that we are afraid of you."

"Don't worry. It doesn't matter," Katherine replied.

"No, of course it matters."

"This is all gonna be over soon," Katherine assured her. "I just needed to tell you that I'm okay. I have a way to fix everything."

It took Snow a moment to figure out what Katherine meant by that and then she said, "Katherine. No, wait."

Katherine hung up.

Snow turned around to look at Charming and Elsa whom were both standing by the table.

"What did she say?" Charming asked.

"She said she's going to get rid of her magic…Forever."

"How is that even possible?" Elsa asked.

"She said it will all be over soon, and she can't wait to be home for a cocoa."

Charming sat down.

"Did she say anything other than that?" Hook asked. "If it was a spell or a magic object of some kind?"

"Who cares how she's doing it?" Charming replied. "That's not that matters here."

"You're absolutely right," Hook replied, though he didn't agree. "I wonder if she tried to call me." He searched for his phone and pretended he couldn't find it on him. "Bloody hell. I left my talking phone in the back of your truck."

"It's just called a phone," Charming corrected him.

"What an impractical name. I'll be back in two shakes."

Hook left, closing the door behind himself.

Snow and Charming looked at each other.

Outside of the apartment, Hook took his phone out and tried calling Katherine, but got her voicemail.

"Katherine, it's Killian. Call me right away, or you may never make it home for cocoa, ever." He ended the call and commented to himself, "Darn it, Pierce. Don't tell me you trusted the Crocodile."

Ingrid was looking into her mirror in her ice cave, when Rumple appeared.

"Did you come here for a reason?" she asked. "As I recall, I already told you what you needed to do to free yourself from your dagger. I have nothing more to give you." She turned around to look at him and approached him. "Unless you simply like watching me."

"I never do anything without a good reason. And watching your twisted mind at work does not qualify."

"Twisted? Said the man who betrayed everyone in Storybrooke."

He walked around her, as he chuckled, saying, "I haven't betrayed a single person. Not yet, anyway."

"Did you forget that you gave me those? Did you forget what they can do?" she questioned, looking at the box of ribbons that were on her bed that had a fluffy white blanket on it.

"I don't forget much, dearie. But if you plan to put that ribbon on Katherine Pierce, you're about to be disappointed. With her powers out of control, I've now found my own use for her."

"You think you can take her away from me now?" she inquired, and attempted to use magic on him, but was blocked by a magical field. "What did you do?"

"Look down," he instructed.

She looked down to see a yellow circle all around her.

"Remember the urn your sister placed you in? It had the power to limit your magic."

"Elsa destroyed that urn," she said.

"Well, funny thing about magic, it can never be destroyed completely. It simply lives on in other forms. Magic survives. I visited the bar where the urn was destroyed, collected its remnants, grain by grain." He held up a container scientists usually put liquid experiments in for testing in labs. "Painstaking process. But I must say, the effort paid off."

He began to walk off.

"When I escape, there will be a terrible price to pay," she warned him.

"Don't worry. The dust won't last long. Just long enough to get what I want. And, you see, I don't have to betray everyone in Storybrooke. Just you," he said, when he walked back over to her. "And, I'm afraid, Katherine Pierce."

He left.

Ingrid looked around, trying to figure out what to do, not wanting him to do anything to Katherine.

Will was at Granny's at a booth with a cup in front of him. He used his flask to pour his liquor into the cup.

Robin sat in front of him when he was finishing doing that, and slid it towards himself.

"Hands off. That's me lunch and dinner," Will said, looking at him.

"Sorry, friend. But I need to pick your brain, and I need you sober as Friar Tuck on a Sunday when I do it."

"I'm not sure Sundays ever made any difference for that man."

Will watched Ruby, as she passed by. Then he looked at Robin again.

"What's happening?"

"Regina needs our help." He took the book out of the backpack he had and pointed to it. "This book."

"Funny, you were never much the reading sort, Robin."

"It's not mine. I stole it," he told him.

"Aw. Now, that sounds more like you. So, what's so important about a book?"

"Whoever wrote this imbued it with magical powers, powers that could change Regina's future for the better. We need to figure out who did this."

"Information about the writer of a magical book. I might just have an idea."

"Excellent," Robin commented.

"But I'm gonna need me lunch and dinner back."

Robin pushed it back over to him.

"You see, you ain't been in this town as long as I have. It wasn't always magic. But when it came, it started at one place, the clock tower. See, for 28 years, them hands didn't move. Time stood still. Then one day, tick-tock, it bloody did."

Will took a sip from the cup.

"I'm afraid you've lost me, Will. I understand the significance of the magical clock, but what's that got to do with this book or its author?"

"Do you know what's under that magical clock tower?"

"No," Robin answered.

"A library."

Will watched Ruby pass by again.

Snow was on her and Charming's bed, looking at a picture that was framed, which she held in her hand.

Charming walked in and grabbed a chair, setting it in front of her, the back of chair towards her, and he sat down and saw the picture she was looking at.

He chuckled.

"I've always liked that picture."

"Do you remember when you took it?" Snow asked.

"How could I forget? That was the party we had at Granny's after Katherine helped us go up against…Pan? Or Anton, The Giant?"

"Try Cora," Snow said.

"Oh." Looking at the picture closer, he said, "We invited Happy to that?"

"I guess it's easy to lose track. She has saved Storybrooke a lot."

Charming chuckled.

"I'm worried about her, too but Katherine is tough," he said, coming back to the present problem. "She'll be fine."

"What if she's making a mistake? Because of us. Shouldn't we be out there, trying to convince her not to give up her magic?"

"That's her choice, not ours," Charming reminded her. "She knows we support her, no matter what. And if losing her magic is what she wants, well…Maybe it's not such a bad thing."

"But it's part of who she is, the Savior. Isn't embracing that the right thing?"

"But if the Snow Queen is doing all this because of Katherine's power, maybe getting rid of it is the heroic thing. Maybe her best chance now is for her to be…Normal."

Elsa was standing by the stairs, watching, and overheard what Charming said and wasn't happy about it, so she silently took the scarf and locator potion and left the apartment to go find Katherine.

"I've tried this one before," Will said, standing in front of the library with Robin. "Probably easier when I'm not drunk and getting punched. It's a pin tumbler with six pins. Not the easiest, but with a bit of luck and the light touch of the old Will Scarlet…"

Robin looked and noticed the hours on the library door and opened the door. He then went to stand in the threshold of the opened library door and pointed at the sign.

"Opening hours 'til ten."

"Yeah, very generous," Will replied.

"Indeed," Robin agreed.

Will closed the door behind himself.

Regina was upstairs sitting on Henry's bed next to him.

She put the magazine down.

"I can keep sitting here pretending to read about Wolverine, or you can talk about what happened with Katherine."

"Nothing to talk about," he assured her, an ice pack on the back of his head, still looking at a magazine.

"Can I at least look at the wound?" Regina asked. "Not that I don't trust the ice doctor's diagnosis."

"Okay, fine."

He put the ice pack down.

Regina saw a small scratch.

"Does that hurt?"

"A little," he said, being tough.

She magically healed it.

"Not anymore," he then said.

"All better," Regina said.

He looked at her.

"It must be nice to have magic and be useful."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Regina wanted to know.

"I went out there to help her. But I couldn't do anything, because I'm just ordinary."

"Henry," she said. "We are each given our own gifts. You have the heart of the truest believer. You brought us all together. Never think you're ordinary just because you don't have magic. Or claws, or…purple shorts," she added, looking at the magazine pictures, a hand on his. "Now, don't worry about Katherine. She's a hero, and as we both know…"

They both said together, "Heroes always win."

Hook stormed into Gold's shop, looking for him.

"Crocodile!" He yelled. "Where are you?" He saw the book that had Katherine's handprint on it. "Katherine. No. No, no, no." He took his phone out and called her, leaving another voicemail. "Pierce, it's Killian again. You have to listen to me. I know that you've been to see Gold, I saw what you did. And if he's promised to get rid of your powers, don't' listen to him. He doesn't wanna help you, he wants to collect your powers in a bloody magic hat, and when he does, you'll be sucked in, too. I don't know what he's planning, but I know that he's been lying to Belle. The dagger he gave her is a fake. I only know all this because…Because I'm afraid I've been lying to you, too. Gold blackmailed me into helping him. He knew…He knew I'd do whatever it takes to be with you, and he used it against me. I just wanted to be a better man for you, Pierce. But I failed. And now because of that, I might lose you. And I'm sorry. But I hope you never forgive me, because that means that you'll get this in time to save yourself. Goodbye." He ended the call and only then did he notice the map on the counter. He saw the blue circle and knew exactly where it was and rushed out of the shop to go find her.

Ingrid was still in the circle and was testing it for weakness. She got frustrated, realizing it still hadn't weakened. She looked at her mirror to see where Katherine was so she could get a message across to her magically.

Katherine was driving in the rainy weather, when the radio started being staticey. She tried to turn to a different station, not looking at the road, but it got worse and the light in her car got all staticey too. She looked at the road again and saw Ingrid, so she put on her breaks and tried to swerve out of the way and she ended up crashing into a tree.

When she woke up, she got out of the car and looked around at the road, looking for Ingrid, remembering that she'd been in the road. When she turned around, she saw half a distance away.

"Stay back."

"Wherever you're headed, turn around and go home. You are in great danger."

"I'm not gonna listen to you about danger. Get out of my way!"

"My sweet girl, I am not the one that you should fear, Rumpelstiltskin is. Whatever he's promised you, it's a lie."

"How do you know he promised me anything?" she questioned.

"So I was right. You mustn't trust him, Katherine. He doesn't do anything unless it benefits him. He doesn't care about you. He would kill you to get what he desires."

"You know what I think? The fact that you don't want me to go means something. It means I'm going," Katherine said stubbornly.

"I won't let you," Ingrid's image said, stepping close to stand in front of her.

"You're not gonna hurt me, you need me."

Katherine turned around to see her there, which she realized meant that she couldn't actually be there. She knew only vampires could do that in an instant. Not witches.

"You're not here," Katherine stated.

"If I could be, I would," Ingrid told her. "I am trying to protect you, and this is the truth."

"I don't care what you say. That's the truth."

She walked through Ingrid's image, which disappeared, and she got into her car and began driving again.

Snow was pouring something to drink into a mug, when Regina came down the stairs.

"How's Henry?" Snow asked.

"Reading comic books, refusing to sleep, so I think okay. Or at least his version of a brave face. Thank you, by the way, for earlier. I mean, he has enough problems without bringing my life into it."

"You mean Robin Hood?" Snow replied. "Did you guys, uh…," Snow added with a smile.

Regina scoffed.

"Oh, come on, Regina! You don't need to be ashamed," Snow replied, taking that as a yes.

"Well, I know I don't have to be, but I am."

Charming came into the kitchen.

"Is everything okay?"

Regina hadn't known he was in the apartment and said, "What are you doing here? Well, shouldn't someone be out looking for Katherine?"

"Didn't Mary Margaret tell you? She called," Charming informed her. "She figured out a way to get rid of her magic."

"Get rid of it? And you're okay with that?"

"We support her," Charming replied.

"We're not talking about an old pair of Jimmy Choo's here. Tell me you're joking."

"It may seem drastic, but it's the only way Katherine can be sure never to hurt anyone again," Snow reasoned.

"This could be the worst idea you've ever had," Regina replied. "And you hired the Wicked Witch as your nanny."

"We actually think it would be good for her. We…she could be normal," Charming told her.

"Let me ask you something," Regina said. "Do you know what I regret most?"

"The countless innocent lives you destroyed?" Charming guessed.

She silently looked at him and then looked at Snow.

"That I didn't support Henry when he realized he was special. You, of all people, should remember. 'Cause you started it all when you gave him that storybook. It opened up a whole world for him. But I was so scared of losing him that I tried convincing him he was crazy. And that being normal would make things better. Thankfully, he had the good sense not to listen to me."

Snow realized what Regina was getting at and looked at Charming.

"Regina's right. David, we've been rationalizing and you know it. We cannot let her take away what's special about her."

Charming sighed.

"I know."

"Well, then let's go get her."

Snow stopped in her tracks on her way to the table, seeing that the potion and scarf weren't there.

"Regina, you're locator potion…"

Regina turned around to look at the table.

"It's gone!"

Charming looked at the table, trying to figure out what had happened to it, and looking around, he didn't see Elsa.

"Where's Elsa?"

Elsa was following the flying scarf.

Katherine arrived at the house, and, leaving her phone in the car, went into the house.

"You're sure these are from her bug?" Henry asked Snow, talking about the skid tracks and footprints on the pavement on the road.

Snow was examining the marks from the tires and footprints and Regina was standing back, Charming next to Henry.

"Oh, yeah," Snow replied, and got to her feet. "She definitely spun out of here and then she got out of the car and got back in."

"Anyone else out here?" Charming asked.

"No, it's just her footprints. Come on. These are so fresh, we can carry on, on foot. She can't have gone far."

Snow and Regina carried on together, while Henry and Charming went over to the truck that still was turned on.

"So, before we were interrupted, you were telling me about Robin Hood."

"Well, there's not much to tell," Regina replied. "It's not gonna work out. It's the story of my life. Whatever's working against my happiness is more powerful than I am."

"Why does it have to work against you?" Snow inquired. "Look and me and David. We have faced impossible odds, numerous times, often because of you. And we've always worked out. You know why? Because we have hope."

"You get a quarter from the Hope Commission every time you say that word, admit it."

"I'm serious," Snow told her.

"Well, it's easy for you to say, you're a hero. Whenever you need help, it just magically shows up, like Henry's book."

"Yeah, I think that when you do good, the universe takes care of you. That's why it showed up."

"Well, doesn't really matter why. Your wishes are rewarded. Mine are crushed."

"No, I refuse to believe that happiness is impossible for you to achieve. You've come too far."

"If you do good hoping to be redeemed, is it really good?" Regina asked her. "Maybe evil is born, and it's just who I am."

"Regina, you saw me grow up. You know how selfish and shallow I could be as a child. You know what I've done since. You have literally seen my heart, you know it's not untouched. You are not all evil, and I am not all good, things are not that simple."

"Well, whoever's guiding all this seems to think it is," Regina replied. "You're the hero and I'm the villain. Free will be damned. It's all in the book, and we both know how it plays out."

"Mmm, maybe. But maybe not. Your stories went poorly because you made bad choices. But now you're making good ones. It may not happen as quickly as you want, but if you stay the course, your happiness will come."

"You honestly believe that?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe. What matters is that you do."

Snow walked ahead of her and Regina stood there alone, for a moment.

Robin and Will were still at the library that night, looking at the bookshelves.

"She's really something, all right," Will commented, talking about Regina. If Evil Queen's your type, which I get. You're still together, then?"

"That is not relevant," Robin commented.

"Hey, no judgments here, mate. I was the one who told you to follow your heart."

"I just want her to be happy, even if she thinks that's impossible."

Robin thought he'd found an identical storybook, but didn't, so he put it back.

"With all do respect, I'm beginning to think that your magic library theory might be a tad off. Any book we want is hardly gonna be stacked beside _The Cat in the Hat_. Why would a cat want a hat?" Robin put the book back.

"I've seen stranger," Will informed him.

Robin was about to give up, closing the storybook, when there was a folded piece of paper inside the open bag that the book had come from.

"Hey, this wasn't here before!"

"What wasn't here?" Will asked.

"Not sure."

Robin unfolded the paper and saw what it was.

"Incredible!"

Will looked over at him.

"What is it?"

"I need to reach Regina," Robin informed him.

Regina's phone went off, but there wasn't a name to the number, so when she answered it, she asked, "Hello, who is this?"

"Regina, it's Robin," he replied, using Will's cell phone. "I've just found something that you have to see, right now."

"Right now? I'm sorry, but I'm in the middle…"

Snow put a hand on her shoulder.

"Go. We got this."

"He found something," Regina informed her.

"Maybe hope worked," Snow replied.

"Well, if it did, I owe you a quarter."

Regina came back onto the phone, as Snow walked away.

"I'll be right there."

Gold had just closed the two sliding doors to the big room, which held the magical hat, when Katherine came in calling, "Hello? Gold, you here?"

She looked at her hands, which she saw were sparking with magic again.

"Gold?"

She walked into a big hallway that had a huge chandelier.

"Gold!" She saw light coming from two closed doors. "Gold, you in there?"

After Rumple had set the hat up in the room with the sliding doors, he appeared behind her.

"There's no need to shout. I'm right here."

She turned around to look at him, when he spoke.

"You'll forgive me if I keep my distance. It would appear your powers are growing increasingly out of control."

"Yeah, it was a rough night," she replied. "So, what do I need to do?"

"I've already cast the spell inside that room. All you have to do is step through the door."

She looked behind her at the closed doors and then at him again, debating.

"Something wrong?" Rumple asked.

"It's just, I ran into the Snow Queen."

"Did you?"

"Well, sort of. It was a projection or a hologram. She said I shouldn't do this, that you were trying to hurt me."

"All right, so now we know who doesn't want you to do this, the villain. Sounds like an argument for it, or maybe that's just me."

"That's what I said."

"When you still have doubts," he replied.

"Do you blame me?" she inquired.

"No."

"Is it safe? Will I be okay?"

"No magic is without risk," Rumple replied, knowing simply saying that she'd be okay and that it was safe, she'd know that he was lying. "Even magic used to take away magic. Look, this is very much your choice, and, of course, it was also your idea."

"But it's gonna stop me from hurting people?"

"That much I can promise, yes."

"What would you do?" she asked, testing him.

"I wouldn't go in there for anything."

"What? Why?"

"Because, Katherine, I'm not like you. I'm a man that makes wrong decisions, selfish decisions."

"But you spent all that time looking for Neal. You married Belle!"

"And each time I miraculously undid all the good. Neal is still gone, the town is still in danger, and Belle, for better or worse, she knows who I am. And that's the man who always chooses power."

"She believes you can change," she reminded him.

"And I love her for that. But I fear she's quite likely wrong. But you, Katherine, you don't need to change, because you do the right thing. Always."

She turned to the doors and he began to leave.

She turned back around.

"Gold!"

He turned to look at her.

"Thank you," she said.

"Yeah. Of course," he replied. "We have no choice."

He left and she turned back to the closed doors.

"Pierce!" Hook yelled, as he found the house and went past the bar fence.

Rumple was already outside the house and told him, "Watch your step, Captain! The terrain's a little rough around here."

"Get out of my way, Crocodile," Hook demanded. "I'll die fighting before I let you use that bloody hat on Katherine."

Rumple magically through him and he landed against the bar fence.

"Death can wait. How about before you depart, I treat you to a front row seat and we can watch her use that hat on herself?"

"No," Hook said, trying to get free from the bar fence, but he was held there by black veins.

"Oh, and in case you were counting on Katherine getting your message, don't."

Rumple brought out Katherine's phone.

"No," Hook said.

"I'm not one for loose ends. Don't worry, you'll get over her, just like you got over Mila. How many centuries did that take? Oh, it matters not. This might even add a little fuel to your fire. Don't tell me you haven't missed the taste of vengeance."

"Don't do this!" Hook yelled.

"I wish I didn't have to. But I need Miss Pierce. Surely you understand that."

A few minutes later, the scarf led Elsa to the front of the house, which Hook and Rumple weren't at.

"Katherine!" Elsa said, coming to the house. "Katherine!"

The scarf dropped itself at the door and she picked it up. She then tried opening the door, but it was locked, so she used her magic on it to open the door, which worked.

Katherine began to slowly approach the doors to the closed room, when Elsa found her and told her, "Katherine, stop."

Katherine turned around to see her.

"Elsa, what the hell are you doing here? You have to leave, now!"

Sparks began to come from the chandelier.

"I'm sorry. I won't let you do this," Elsa told her.

"My powers are out of control. There's no other way. Please, go now!"

"No, you didn't give up on me, even when you nearly froze to death in that ice cave. So, I'm not giving up on you now. I know how scary it is hurting someone you love, I've lived in fear of that my entire life. But giving up on your magic is not the answer. There is another way."

"Yeah, you told me all about how Anna's love saved you, and that's great. But guess what? My version of that with Henry didn't work. This is all I have left."

She turned around and was about to open the doors, but she stopped when Elsa spoke again.

"I was wrong," Elsa said. "It wasn't just Anna's love that saved me."

Katherine turned around to look at her.

"What are you talking about?"

"When I landed in this strange town, I was certain that without Anna, I was doomed. But I got control over my powers again without her."

"How?"

"I didn't really know until today, until the same thing happened to you, and then it finally hit me. It's not only Anna's love or Henry's that can save us. They accept us for who we are, and that's important, but it's not enough." Elsa approached her. "It's on us, too. You have to love yourself, Katherine. The good and the bad. The only way to ever truly be in control over your powers is to embrace them. Because this, this is who you are." She pointed to everything that was sparking with a smile, when she said that.

Elsa reached a hand out to her.

"What are you doing?" Katherine asked.

"It's time to stop being afraid."

"But this could kill you," Katherine informed her.

"I'll take that risk if you will," Elsa replied.

Katherine took her hand and her magic seemed to now be in control, because everything stopped sparking.

Elsa gave a smile at that.

Katherine gave a smile and was relieved.

Rumple realized that something went wrong.

"No!"

Hook chuckled.

"Oh, I'm guessing she didn't go through with it. So sorry." Rumple turned around to look at him and Hook added, "Oh, but I do love the look of loss in your face." Hook then laughed at that.

"I may not have the Savior, pirate. But I assure you, today won't be a complete loss. I need to fill that hat with power, yes. But that was only part of the equation. Because I need something else, the secret ingredient. One I didn't know about until as associate clued me in. A heart."

"Well, if you need my help procuring it, know the only help I give you is your demise."

"Oh, you're gonna help me, all right," Rumple replied.

"Ah," he said with a smile.

"You see, this spell? It's gonna finally separate me from the dagger, so it no longer holds power over me. But to cast it, I need the heart of someone special, someone who knew me before the dagger, before I was the Dark One. Unfortunately, everyone who fits that description is already dead. But one still lives."

Hook tried getting free again, knowing what he meant.

"No! No," Hook said.

"Yes. As luck would have it, dearie, you're my oldest friend."

Rumple plunged his hand into Hook's chest and ripped out his heart.

"Get on with it then. Just do it," Hook said through the pain he'd received from his heart being ripped out.

"Now, now. I promised you we'd have some fun first. You're gonna do everything I say, because you're my puppet now. You're gonna find another way to fill that hat with the power it needs. And then…Then I'll kill you," Rumple informed him.

"Pierce! Are you all right?" Hook questioned, as he rushed into the room, once he found her and Elsa.

Hook hugged her and she hugged back.

"She didn't do it, she didn't take away her magic," Elsa informed him with a smile.

"Wow. I've never seen people so happy about me not doing something."

"We'll find another way to defeat the Snow Queen. Together," Hook told her, pulling away, and then they kissed.

She pulled away.

"Easy, tiger, we've got company," she reminded him. "I didn't know you were such a fan of my magic."

"Why would you say that, Pierce?" he questioned with a smile. "I'm a fan of every part of you."

"Are you all right?" she had to ask him.

"Of course, luv, why?"

"If you look at me any harder, you're gonna drill a hole in my head."

"I'm just relieved." He then said, "You should go outside. I have a feeling there are a lot of worried people who'll be glad to see you."

Once Katherine and Elsa had gone, he went into the room and grabbed the hat for the Crocodile.

Regina entered the library and walked towards where Robin sat at a table.

"I got here as fast as I could. What's so important you couldn't say over the phone?"

"I'll show you in a second, but first, you remember this?"

He had the book open to the page that showed her walking away from him.

"Uh, the book you apparently stole from me? Yes, I remember it quite well."

"You knew I was a thief when you met me," he commented. Then he added, "All right, so tonight, I came here looking, trying to find a clue towards that author. Towards your happy ending."

"In the public library?" Regina questioned. "Robin, my happy ending is not a Stephen King book on tape."

"Hang on. But then the strangest thing happened." He pulled the paper out of his back pocket. "I found something."

He handed it to her and she unfolded it.

When she unfolded it, she saw a picture of her and Robin kissing.

"Is this us?" she asked.

"Yes, inside the pub."

"I don't understand, this isn't what happened. Is this from the book? Twenty-three, page twenty-three, is it missing from the book?"

She walked over to stand next to him and showed her the page that had happened.

"No, no, it's already there, and it's you leaving me. This goes in the same place. This is the meeting that we never had."

She looked at both pages where the numbers were and saw that he was right.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"It means that your fate could have gone many different ways. It means you're not doomed to suffer. There's a bright future for you around every turn, even if you miss one."

"Well, where did you find it? Is there another book? What shelf?" she asked, turning to look at the shelves of books.

"No, it was in my satchel," Robin informed her.

She turned around to look at him.

"What?"

"Not at first. It wasn't there when I left, it appeared."

"Like magic," Regina stated.

"It's a sign," Robin stated. "And you can take it however you want, but to me, it's showing you possibility, hope. That's not something that would ever happen to a villain, is it?"

She shook her head no, agreeing with him.

"What is it?" he asked, seeing her face.

"I owe someone a quarter," she replied.

He was confused at that, so he just gave her a look in silence, and then they kissed.

Once the Snow Queen was free from the circle which had finally disappeared, she sat on her bed and magically made one ribbon appear on herself and the other two disappear.

Once Elsa and Katherine had gone outside, the others found them.

"Katherine!" Snow greeted and hugged her. "Did you do it?"

Katherine hugged back.

"I didn't. Thanks to Elsa."

"I'm so, so glad, just please don't change."

"I don't want to," Katherine said, and they pulled away.

"We love you no matter what," Charming told her.

"I know." She saw Henry. "Hey, kid. How are you?"

She and Henry hugged.

"I'm just glad that you're okay," Henry replied.

Katherine pulled away.

"So, your magic? Are you in control of it again?" Snow asked.

"Absolutely," she said with a smile.

She magically made some fireworks happen in the sky and they all watched the fireworks.

"Cool," Henry commented. Then he looked over and saw ribbon on her wrist. "Katherine, when did you get that?"

Katherine looked down to see the ribbon on her wrist.

"I don't know."

Elsa looked down and saw that she had one, too.

"Katherine, what's happening? It won't come off," she said, trying to take it off.

Katherine tried taking hers off, but couldn't.

"Mine won't, either," Katherine informed her. Then her ribbon glowed and Katherine gasped.

"I feel it, too," Elsa said, noticing. "It's like it's funneling all my magic away, like it's harnessing it somehow."

"Any idea what this is?" Charming asked.

"No," Katherine said. "But I have a pretty good idea where it came from."

The Snow Queen turned around, sensing a presence, and saw Rumple.

"You look disappointed."

"Miss Pierce did not behave as I had hoped. Did you have a hand in it?"

She chuckled as she said, "Of course not. My hands were trapped here the entire time. Although, as you said, the urn dust didn't last long, at all."

"I'd keep my distance, if I were you," Rumple warned, when she approached him.

"You really don't understand what's happening, do you? I wasn't the one who saved Katherine, Elsa was. They really are quite wonderful together, like sisters."

"Your strange fixation really holds no interest for me."

"Oh, but it should, and it will," she said, chuckling. "You see, these ribbons were of no use to me until this moment. They can bond three magical sisters together, but only if all of us are a perfect match."

"And what makes for this perfect match?"

"When all three have embraced their powers, which we now have. Thanks to you." Her ribbon glowed and she looked at it with a smile and chuckled. Then she looked at him again. "Now I wield the magic of my three sisters. Now my mirror is complete, and with this power, I can finally cast a spell over all of Storybrooke. I could probably even defeat you and decorate this place with your bones." She rested her hand on his chest. "Shall I try?"

"Dearie, I warn you, do not overestimate your power."

He walked away from her.

"And I warn you, don't underestimate it!" she yelled at him. She looked at the glowing ribbon again.

She turned to her mirror and pointed her wrist and hand towards it and the glass shattered. Then, when it was fueled enough from the power of the glowing ribbon, it completely shattered and the spell began, magical smoke appearing.

 **Ch.68: Fall**

Ingrid stood in the woods, looking at the sky where her spell was starting, when Rumple came to stand by her.

"Well done, dearie. It appears you've won."

"That's big of you. And a welcome change, you're usually so confrontational."

"I prefer reasonable. I'd like to make a deal."

"You have nothing that I want."

"Well, perhaps I do. This spell of yours, when it hits, in a few hours from now…"

"Sundown," she informed him.

"Sundown, yes. It will bring out the darkness in everyone in this town."

She chuckled.

"It will do more than that. They will tear themselves apart until everyone is dead."

He gave a smile.

"Not everyone. You'll have what you want, you alone with your sisters, Elsa and Katherine, doing who knows what, and I'll be here, too. Spending every waking moment of my immortal life trying to rip your heart out."

"It seems you do have something to offer," she replied. "What do you want?"

"To leave."

"Didn't we already make this deal?"

"Yes, but I have an eye for a loophole. And I think I've spotted yours. My wife and grandson will be destroyed by this spell. So, I want you to allow them to leave with me. You spare the two of them, I spare you misery. Do we have a deal?"

"Enjoy your trip," she said.

Rumple looked at the spell in the sky.

Elsa used binoculars to look at the spell in the sky from the clock tower, and then stopped after a minute.

"Belle was right, my aunt is actually doing this," Elsa commented.

She passed the binoculars to Snow whom also looked.

"The spell of Shattered Sight," Snow said.

Charming took them from Snow and looked.

"We open the mines and the vaults, we take shelter there."

"This is magic. It doesn't care about ceilings. It started," Regina told him.

"How long?" Hook asked her.

She looked through the binoculars.

"By sundown." She took them away. "By sundown, everyone in this town will start tearing each other apart."

"Okay. The answer is simple. Let's not be in town," Katherine suggested.

Henry, Regina, Katherine, Hook, LeRoy, Hook, Elsa, Charming, and Snow looked at the ice wall at the town line.

"Hardly an elegant solution," Regina commented.

"Nothing wrong with brute force if it works," Katherine replied.

"If we can get over, we can build a frame, take people over one at a time," LeRoy suggested.

"David, be careful," Snow said.

"Yeah, yeah," Charming replied, rope over one shoulder.

Charming went over and use an axe to dig into the ice wall so he could climb it, but it shook, making him fall.

"David!" Snow yelled.

Elsa, Snow, and Katherine went over to the wall.

Snow and Katherine went over to Charming.

"David!" Katherine said.

"You okay?" Snow asked.

Charming started to get up and Katherine helped him.

"Looks like that wall doesn't care much for your brute force," Regina commented, looking at it.

Snow helped Charming away from the wall and a crack opened up, revealing Anna's necklace to Elsa.

Elsa went to grab it and Katherine saw it.

"Elsa, no," she warned. "Stop. Hey, no! That thing could go off again!"

Katherine looked at the wall, as Elsa grabbed the necklace.

Katherine put a hand on her arm.

"Come on."

"It's Anna's necklace. I thought it was gone. It's like a miracle," Elsa said, holding it in her hand.

They walked away from the wall.

"Glad you found it, but sentimentality is not worth risking your life over," Katherine told her.

"It's a sign, Katherine. A sign we're gonna win," Elsa said.

"Is everyone into this hope thing now?" Regina said.

"If we're gonna win, we need to stop wasting time," Katherine told them. "David, Snow, LeRoy, go tell everyone what's going on. When this goes down, everyone needs to be separated from their loved ones if they don't wanna hurt each other." She watched them go and then looked at Hook. "Killian, go to the waterfront. See if we can use boats to get some people out."

"I have to warn Robin Hood. His camp's not far from here," Regina informed her.

"Okay, go," she told her. "Elsa and I are gonna talk to Gold, see if he has any ideas. Henry, you come with us…"

"No. He's with me. I'm his best chance," Regina replied.

"That might not be true. Katherine and I, I think we're immune," Elsa told her.

"What?" Regina questioned.

"These ribbons." Elsa raised an arm to show her. "If the Snow Queen wants us to be her sisters, then the curse won't affect us."

"So, I should definitely watch Henry," Katherine told Regina.

"No. You're a part of this nut job's plan. I want Henry near me as long as it's safe for him."

"It's okay, Katherine. I'll be fine with her," Henry assured her.

Katherine gave him a hug.

"Be careful, kid."

"We gotta go. This is happening now," Regina commented, looking behind her at the curse.

Katherine let go of Henry, seeing what Regina was seeing. It was just behind the trees.

Katherine and Elsa were at the shop with Belle.

"Any luck?" Katherine asked.

"No," Belle said with a sigh. "It appears to be pretty much unstoppable. The one thing I did find is there may be a way to undo the effects on anyone it touches."

"That's wonderful," Elsa replied.

"It seems that when somebody's been touched by the spell, that you can use them to undo it. With a strand of their hair, you can make some kind of counterspell, like a vaccine."

"My sister," Elsa said.

"What?" Katherine asked.

"My aunt said she put me in that urn. I didn't believe her because Anna would never do that, unless she was under that spell. We have to get to her."

"But you still don't know where she is," Belle reminded her.

"No, but now you can help me find her. You said if I had something of hers, you could use this locator spell. Well, now I have something of hers." She handed Belle the necklace and looked at Katherine. "Sometimes sentimentality pays off."

"You have a point, Elsa," she agreed with her.

Belle used a magnifying glass to examine it and immediately saw something.

"There's mirror dust in this," she informed them. "Actually embedded in the metal."

"So I was right. She was under that spell," Elsa said.

"So, if we find Anna, she can save everyone."

"I'll round up the faeries," Belle said. "They can set up shop somewhere close and figure out how to make the counterspell."

"Thank you. Let's go," Elsa said.

"Elsa, you realize this is a long shot," Katherine told her. "I was time traveling when I brought you here. And when Anna disappeared, it was…"

"Thirty years ago," Elsa interrupted. "I know. But she's okay. She has to be. And I don't care how old she is. She can save us."

"Okay, then," Katherine replied. "We're relying on mirror dust and fairies. But now we have a plan, which is progress. Let's go find your sister."

Hook was using his telescope to look across the water at the docks. He saw a wall of ice at the edge of the water in a distance.

"No fleeing by boat, then," he commented.

Rumple sat on the bench behind Hook.

"This Snow Queen is good, isn't she? Sit, lad." He patted the bag that was on the ground by him. "Don't forget where your heart lies. Now, I have a job for you. You remember how this works, yes?" Rumple made the thing that the hat was in appear.

Hook looked at it.

"The hat…Not Katherine."

"No, no. Not this time," Rumple said with a chuckle. "I have a better plan. Granny's Diner is being converted into a temporary hive for the vilest of creatures, the pious little fleas."

"Pious. The fairies?"

"Just like any flying pests, if you wanna eliminate the infestation, it's important to get them all. Doing so will infuse this hat with enough power to allow me to cleave myself from the dagger and then leave this town with my powers intact, a suddenly urgent undertaking. Now, will you assist me?"

"You have my heart. You know I can't refuse," Hook replied, though he didn't want to do it.

"Indeed," Rumple said with a chuckle. "But here's the rub, dearie. My wife has just called to inform me that she intends to spend the day sequestered amongst said fleas. So, I need you to stand by while I get her out of the way."

"The fairies are working to stop this spell. You're killing the cure? You do this, you condemn the entire town, and even your own grandson, to whatever happens."

"No. I'm not leaving Henry. I will take him, and I will take Belle, and I will leave this town to its fate."

"But Katherine and everyone else…"

"I don't have time for everyone else. And if I have to choose between everyone else and me, then me wins. Every time."

Hook sat there, looking ahead and silent, not liking the idea.

Rumple chuckled.

"You can clench your jaw and flash your eyes all you wish, because it doesn't change the fact that…" He took the dagger out and waved it over the thing that held the hat and the hat appeared. "We're in this together."

Robin sat in a chair with Roland, in front of a fire, a few merry men around the camp, as Henry and Regina watched.

Robin set Roland down.

"What's this called?" he asked him, one of Robin's arrows in Robin's hand.

"An arrow," Roland replied.

"Yes, and what's this called?" he asked,

"Flight."

"Flight, yeah," Robin replied, and then looked to see Regina and Henry. "Stay right there," Robin told his son, before getting up.

"Regina," Robin said, and went to stand in front of her.

"It's happening," Regina told him. "You and your men need to scatter. All together like this, with all these weapons, you'll kill each other once this spell hits."

"Will!" Robin called. "Will Scarlet."

He came out from a close tent.

"There's no need to yell. I'm just here, Robin."

"Emergency. Break camp!"

"All right, then. Come on, little man," Will said to Roland.

Regina turned to her son.

"Why don't you go help?"

Henry did as told.

Will walked off with Roland.

Regina looked at Robin again and Robin saw her face.

"What? Is there something else?"

"No. I'm just trying to memorize you like this."

"Like what? Nervous and alarmed?"

"No. With love in your eyes. I told you what this spell is going to do."

He put a hand on the side of her face.

"Maybe it won't."

"It will," she told him. "The only people who believe in me in this town are Henry and you." She sighed. "And the thought of you looking at me like everyone else does, with hatred…" She groaned. "It just might kill me."

"Stop thinking. We're here now and this is true."

They kissed and then hugged.

Elsa and Katherine came out of the shop.

Elsa held the necklace up.

"Okay. Here you go…," Katherine said. She poured a drop of the locator potion on the necklace. "Ha!" she added when the necklace started glowing.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Elsa asked her.

"Yeah, I know this spell. It gets brighter as you get closer to your goals. It's how Snow White and Charming found each other."

In a certain direction, it began to glow more.

"Did you see that? That means it found her, right? She's out there?"

Katherine gave a smile.

"How about…Yeah. Come on, don't just stand there. Let's keep going."

They continued walking, the necklace in Elsa's hand.

"The library. But I've been inside before, and Anna wasn't there," Elsa said.

"The library is, well, a funny place. There are all these tunnels underneath."

"You think she could be down there?"

"Regina kept a whole dragon under there for twenty-eight years, I'm sure you can fit a small princess, too."

"Yes, frozen by the Snow Queen. That's why we never found Anna. But now we will."

Katherine and Elsa entered the library and went into the tunnels.

"It's brighter," Elsa commented, as they walked, Katherine shining a flashlight. Elsa pointed in a direction. "There."

They stopped where there were rocks.

"No, how can there be a barrier? Look how bright the glow is!" Elsa said. "She must be practically right on the other side!" Elsa approached. "Anna! Are you there?"

Katherine walked next to her.

"Look at this dust. It just recently fell," Katherine commented. "All the new ice-spiking and earth-shaking that the Snow Queen's been doing must have caused it."

Elsa stepped back a distance.

"I can move this."

Katherine turned around to look at her.

"No. Elsa, stop. As much as I enjoyed our last cave-in, I don't wanna do it again."

"But she's right there," Elsa replied.

"Then we'll find another way," she assured her.

"Sure, me and the guys can clear the tunnel," LeRoy told Elsa. "We'll have to work careful, but we can do it."

"Let's go now," Elsa said.

Charming's phone went off.

"Excuse me."

"Look at this mess," Regina commented. "A good mayor checks that these things are kept up to code."

"Yeah, well, if the mayor only has to worry about one villain, and it's herself, that frees up a lot of time for infrastructure," Snow said, looking at the map and then at Regina. "I've had other issues."

"LeRoy, how long to clear the passage?" Katherine asked him.

"A couple hours, maybe. We can get right on it."

"That's wonderful," Elsa commented.

"We don't have a couple hours," Regina interjected. "Have you guys not been watching the clock? It'll be sundown before you munchkins finish."

"Dwarfs, sister," LeRoy corrected.

"Like I care. Let's just blast through and take the risk."

Charming came back in.

"That was Belle over at the diner. They can possibly make the counterspell even if we don't find Anna. They can pull the mirror dust out of the necklace and try to use that."

"It's exactly the same?" Snow asked.

"Almost. It'll take a little longer. The process is difficult and it will destroy the necklace."

"So, the necklace can either save all of us or Anna," Katherine replied.

"No. It can do both. We have time," Elsa said.

"We don't," Regina told her. "Exploring these tunnels could take days."

"So, what'll it be, folks? Save the town or find the sister?" LeRoy asked.

Hook and Rumple walked up to the diner. Hook had the hat in hand.

"Go to the back and wait," Rumple told him. "You'll know when you're needed."

"What do you want?" the blue fairy asked, when Rumple entered the diner.

Belle turned around at the bar to see him.

"Excuse me, but I'd like to borrow my wife," Rumple informed her. He then told Belle, "I need you at the shop for a short while."

"She's working. We need her," Blue told him.

"Mother Superior's right. This is too important," Belle told him. "We're really close here, Rumple. Please, be patient."

"Of course. Well, until you can go, I'll just, uh…I'll just keep you company. Perhaps I'll be helpful."

Blue approached him.

"This is light magic, Dark One."

"Well, then maybe I'll learn something," he replied.

Elsa stood away from the others, looking at the necklace.

Regina looked at Charming, Snow, and Katherine.

"This shouldn't even be a conversation. If we don't get the necklace to the fairies right now, we and all our loved ones will be hit by this vicious spell. It's one woman's life versus a whole town."

"Maybe we just haven't thought of an option where we don't have to lose anyone," Katherine suggested to Regina.

"Mmm, you're talking like a hero," Snow commented.

Katherine looked at Snow.

"Yes, like all you Charmings always do," Regina commented. "But right now, that's not your job." She looked at Katherine. "You're more than heroes, you're leaders, which means making the tough choice where someone has to lose and you have to say who." She added that last part, looking at Charming and Snow.

"I agree with Regina. You're right," Snow said.

"Yeah, I heart it, too," Katherine added.

"We need to do what's best for the most people," Snow said. "We need to give this town its best chance."

"I'm so sorry, but we have to let the fairies destroy that necklace," Charming told Katherine.

Katherine walked over to Elsa.

"This can't be easy," Charming said, as they watched her explain it to Elsa.

Elsa gave her the pouch, which Katherine took and walked over to them.

Elsa walked over to the elevator and went down with the necklace in her hand.

They entered the diner with the pouch.

"The necklace. Do you have it?" Belle asked, going over to them.

"It's right here," Katherine replied.

Blue opened the pouch but all there was were pebbles.

"It's pebbles from the mine," Blue told them.

"What?" Katherine said.

"Where is it?" Snow asked.

"She tricked us so she can use it to keep tracking down her darn sister," Regina answered. "I should know better than to trust blondes by now."

"We have to go back and get it," Katherine replied.

"No. It's too late," Belle replied.

"Too late? Already?" Snow asked.

"By the time you get back here, yes," Belle replied. "Without Anna being her physically, there's no way to make a counterspell in time."

"Time for a hope speech? Virtues of blind faith?" Regina asked.

"Well, it seems Elsa's blind faith is exactly what's screwing us right now," Snow replied.

"Coming from you, that's just terrifying," Regina commented.

"Well, I'm not giving up," Katherine replied. "I know she's down in the mines looking for Anna. I'm gonna go help Elsa find her."

Charming sighed.

"Well, then go. Because right now, that's our only shot."

Katherine left the diner.

It didn't take long for Katherine to get down to the mines.

"Elsa!"

Katherine hurried to catch up with her.

Elsa stopped and saw her.

"I'm sorry, I have to try this," Elsa said. Then she used magic to open it up, which worked.

Elsa and Katherine walked through the now big hole in the tunnels where there was a beach.

"The beach," Katherine commented. "That map couldn't have been any more wrong."

"I don't understand. She should be here," Elsa replied.

"Elsa, I'm sorry. Magic isn't always perfect."

"So, even though it's still glowing, because she's not here, it means…"

"The search is over," Katherine told her. "Thirty years is a long time."

"You think something's happened to her and this has all been a mistake?" Elsa asked, turning around to look at her.

"I think we need to deal with the problem in front of us right now. I'm sorry."

They continued walking around on the beach.

"I'm sorry, Katherine, but I still have faith. I still believe she's…"

Elsa looked at the necklace and saw that it wasn't glowing anymore.

"What?" Katherine asked.

"It stopped glowing."

"I'm sorry."

"She's really gone. This was my present for Anna for her wedding. It was among my mother's things. But to us, it was new. And I turned it into the last gift I ever gave her."

"Elsa, I'm so sorry," Katherine said. "But it's almost sundown." She looked back to see that the curse was spreading. Then she looked at Elsa again. "That cloud is gonna hit any time. We have to go. Everyone's gonna turn on each other, and something tells me that being immune to the curse is not gonna stop them from attacking us."

"I failed. I deserve to be attacked. This…This is all I have left of Anna. Now, I'll never know what happened to her." She put her hands to her chest, still holding the necklace. "Anna, wherever you are, whatever happened to you all those years ago, I'm so sorry I didn't find you. I still have faith. I know you're out there somewhere. I won't give up hope. I just wish…I wish you were with me now."

"Elsa, come on," Katherine urged her.

Elsa took her hands off her chest and put her hand out in front of her that still held the necklace. Then there was a bolt of magic that came from the necklace.

"Something's happening," Katherine stated.

"Do you think it is my aunt's spell?"

"I don't know."

"What is that?" Elsa asked, when some of the water began to bubble in a circle.

A bolt of magic came from it, throwing them back, and they fell on the sand.

When they both sat up, there was a trunk and someone opened it. Then Kristoff and Anna came out of the opened chest.

Elsa stood up.

"Anna?"

They looked to see her.

Elsa ran over to her.

"Anna!"

"Elsa!"

"Anna! I couldn't find you!"

"I was looking for you!" Anna said back.

"You missed your wedding!"

"It's okay! We're here!" Anna replied, and looked at Kristoff.

"You're still young!"

"We were frozen," Anna told her.

"For thirty years, apparently," Kristoff interjected.

"How did you get here?" Elsa asked.

Katherine stood there silently, trying to figure out what happened, the necklace in her hand.

"It's like you wished it," she commented.

"My necklace!" Anna said. "It was the wishing star!"

"This is an amazing miracle, but it is a cold miracle and we're all wet," Kristoff replied. "So…"

"Yes. If we can get Anna back to the fairies right away, she might be able to stop the spell," Katherine replied.

"Wait, there's something I have to do first," Elsa said, and then hugged Anna whom hugged back.

Katherine gave a smile.

"So, Anna's on her way," Belle announced. "Do you really think they can do it?" she asked Rumple.

"Perhaps. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's never trust a fairy. Come, let's get you some place safe. Just in case."

Rumple left the diner with Belle.

Hook stood by a wall in the hallway in the back, hidden.

They walked through the streets of the town, heading for the diner.

"So, this spell can't affect Anna, because it already got her once?" Kristoff asked.

"Exactly," Katherine informed him.

"And the two of you?" Anna asked.

"We're immune. It's a long story. We just gotta hurry," Katherine replied.

"What a funny-looking world," Anna told Elsa.

"Right?" Elsa replied.

Hook did as he was told by Rumple to do.

They walked into the diner to see the aftermath of what had happened.

"What happened here?" Elsa asked.

"What do you think? The Snow Queen," Katherine assumed.

"What does this mean?" Anna asked.

"It means that even with you here, we can't protect everyone."

"So, what do we do now?" Elsa asked Katherine.

"Prepare for the worst," Katherine replied.

Hook listened to everything, hiding behind the counter.

"You'll be safe in here," Rumple said, as they walked to his shop.

"So, you can keep the spell out?" Belle asked him.

"No, but we must be separated," he informed her. "As Dark One, I may be immune to this spell, but you can still hurt me. Go inside, and stay in the back room. I'm gonna seal it with a protection spell so no one can get to you."

"Okay."

"Look, I'll be back soon. And then we're gonna be together. And we're gonna be fine," he assured her. "I promise."

He hugged her and then let go.

She walked inside, closing the door behind herself. Then he put magic on the shop.

Hook approached.

"Is it done?" Rumple asked him.

"You know, she truly loves you," he commented. "You could have her forever. Or all the power in the world. It's your choice."

"I don't need to choose, thank you. I can and will, have both."

He took the hat from Hook.

Rumple walked away.

"Now that it's settled, are we done?" Hook asked.

"No, no, I'm not gonna give up control of you just yet. Not until I have everything I need."

"What's left?"

"That's my concern, not yours," Rumple replied. "But by morning, all shall be complete, including your life. Now run along, dearie, and enjoy your last day in this or any land."

"Mary Margaret. David. We're running out of time. You said you had a plan," Katherine said, as they entered the police station, where Snow and Charming were, Snow holding the baby.

"Kristoff?" Charming said.

"David!" Kristoff replied.

They went over to each other.

"You cut your hair!" Charming said.

"So did you!"

They hugged and laughed and then pulled away.

"I see you brought your lovely fiancée, Joan?" Charming said.

"Joan?" Kristoff questioned, looking at her.

"It was a code name," Anna told him. "David, I like your short hair. Not that I didn't like it long, or I thought it was…It's good to see you."

"Likewise," Charming replied.

They hugged.

He pulled away.

"And this is my wife, Snow, and our son, Neal," he informed her.

"The plan, what's the plan?" Katherine asked Charming and Snow.

Snow grabbed the keys to the cell that were on a desk.

"This is the plan."

"What?" Katherine asked.

"You and Anna and Elsa are the only ones immune," Snow reminded her. "So, the rest of us need to protect ourselves."

Snow held the keys out to Katherine.

"Hey, you might wanna try that desk, old friend. It's sturdy," Charming said to Kristoff, in one of the cells already. "Cuff keys are in the top drawer."

Elsa went over to the drawer and pulled out one of the cuffs.

"I'm not locking you in there," Katherine told Snow.

"Yes, you have to," Snow encouraged her.

"We won't be able to hurt anyone from in here," Charming told her.

"Take the keys, Katherine."

"I don't know what's gonna happen. I don't know how long it's gonna last. I don't know what's gonna happen to me," Katherine replied to her.

"No, Katherine, you're gonna fix this thing. And then you're gonna come back and save us."

"You think?"

"We believe in you," Charming reminded her.

"Please," Snow said. "Now, you know Henry's in a safe place and Regina and the others can take care of themselves."

Katherine took the keys and locked Charming's cell first.

"What about the baby?"

"Don't worry. Neal won't be with us," he assured her.

She went over to the cell Snow as in.

"Who's gonna take him?" she asked.

"You are," Snow said, and gave Neal to her. Snow closed the cell. "We don't fear your magic, Katherine. It's what's going to allow you to take on this Snow Queen and win."

"And when you do, you'll be right back here unlocking these doors," Charming assured her.

"We trust you," Snow said. "And Henry's right. You are special. And you are going to use that specialness and save us. Both of you."

"You have wonderful friends, Katherine," Elsa said.

Katherine turned around to look at her.

"I know."

Hook walked in.

"Pierce, a word."

She looked at Hook and then walked over to Elsa.

"Elsa, can you hold him?"

"Yes, of course."

Elsa took Neal.

Katherine walked over to Hook.

"What are you doing here? You know what's about to happen."

"Aye. I know. I just needed to see you. Before I chain myself to the dock for the protection of all, I needed to see you one more time."

"I'm…Killian, I'm not a tearful goodbye kiss person," she replied, sobbing a little, not knowing what was going to happen once the spell ended. "But maybe just this once." She kissed him and then hugged him. Then she pulled away.

"Goodbye," he said, leaving.

She walked back over to Elsa.

"Okay." She took Neal from her.

"Not long now," Kristoff said, seeing it, looking out the window.

Anna walked over to the window and looked at it. She then turned around to look at them.

"Looks like one more adventure together."

Elsa went to stand by Anna and saw it.

Katherine looked at Snow.

"Here it comes," Snow said with a sigh.

Charming and Snow held hands through the bars.

Regina walked into her office with Henry.

"Henry, I'm so sorry. I should have stayed focused on Operation Mongoose. But Robin Hood…" She sighed. "I let my heart pull me elsewhere."

"Operation Mongoose is not over," he assured her. "We're gonna find the author. You will be happy."

"First, we have to survive," she told him. "Now, listen to me carefully, Henry. I'm going to seal this place. You're going to be locked in. But more importantly, everyone else will be locked out."

"I understand."

"Don't be scared," she replied.

"I'm not, mom. Katherine and Elsa will fix this. Have faith."

Regina sighed and they hugged.

"I wish I was as brave as you."

He pulled away.

"Now go. I'll be okay. Really. Go."

"I love you," she said.

"I love you, too."

She left the office and closed it. She then put a protection spell on the office.

She turned around to see Robin.

"Where to now?" he asked her.

"My vault. And you need to get as far away from it as possible. It's dangerous even being around each other now." Lights began to flicker. "We're moments away."

"It's okay," he assured her. "Roland is locked away somewhere even I don't know. Henry is safe in there. I'll go and chain myself to a tree in a minute. Unless you want me to come with you."

"No, no, no, no, no. I need to seal myself in that vault."

"What, to keep people out?"

"Well, no, to keep me in."

"Regina, I'm not afraid of you."

"But you really, really should be."

Once in her vault, she put a protection spell on it, hoping to keep herself inside it.

Snow and Charming still held hands through the bars.

"Never let go," Snow said.

"Hey, don't be afraid," Charming said. "You know, we share our heart, and nothing can come between two halves of one heart. These are just precautions. No spell is strong enough to break what we have."

As soon as the spell began, they let go and Charming stepped away from her.

 **Ch.69: Shattered Sight**

Snow and Charming were still in separate cells.

Charming sat on a bed silently in his cell, as Snow spoke to him.

"Prince Charming. Finally, I'm seeing you clearly."

"And what do you see?" he wanted to know.

"A fraud. A shepherd. Who has no business being royalty."

"Well, I see a spoiled little princess who ran away from her troubles who always runs away."

They both stood on either side of the bars.

"I can't believe I had a child with you," she replied.

"Well, maybe you didn't. Could be Wale's," Charming replied.

They both walked away from the bars.

"If this is what marriage is like, I'm glad you keep postponing ours," Kristoff commented to Anna, still handcuffed to the desk.

"You don't mean that, Kristoff," Anna replied. "It's the spell."

"No. I'm seeing clearly now, too. I'm beginning to think this haircut wasn't my only bad idea."

"I know this isn't really you. I know it, but it's still upsetting, so I'm just going to go see my sister and you just stay here handcuffed where you can't hurt anybody," she replied. "But me. With your words."

Anna walked away from him and to the sheriff's office, where Katherine and Elsa were at.

"That's not who they are," Katherine assured Elsa whom was watching everyone that was under the spell. Katherine was holding the baby, as she said that.

"They're their worst selves," Elsa replied. "It's like when Anna put me in that urn. She didn't mean what she said either. I hope."

"I didn't," Anna assured her, walking into the office, having overheard their conversation. "But that doesn't make this any less horrible."

Elsa hugged her and she hugged back.

"That's okay. You're immune. We all are," Elsa replied.

They pulled away.

"And we're together," Elsa added.

"It's going to be alright. Remember. I'm the Savior," Katherine said, even though she didn't want to be.

"Is that like a real job here?" Anna questioned.

"Apparently, it is. I promised everybody here that I'd help them get their happy endings. And I will. I'm just not sure how at this moment."

"I think I may have an idea," Anna suddenly said. "Do you know how the Snow Queen got the idea for the curse?" she asked Elsa. "It's from the legend called the Trojan Glass."

"Never heard of it," Katherine informed her.

"Its origin isn't important. What matters is how they broke the curse."

"But what was done?" Elsa asked.

"Um, to break the spell…," she said, thinking from memory of how they had broken it. "Oh. They had to kill the king. So, in this case, that would mean Ingrid."

"I don't believe killing is ever the answer," Elsa replied, not liking the idea. "Are you sure we can't reason with her?"

"She's beyond that. We all want another way, but if it comes down to her or the town, I'll do what has to be done," Katherine told her.

"But—," Elsa began to reject.

"We're out of options," Katherine interrupted her. She looked at Anna. "Anna? How are you with kids?"

"I love kids," Anna answered her.

Katherine walked over to her with the baby and gave the baby to her.

"Wait. I'm the babysitter? If this is what has to happen, I want to be by your side," Anna said.

"I'm sorry, but someone has to stay here with everyone else," Katherine apologized.

Katherine left the office.

"This was my idea," Anna said.

"I know, but you are my sister, which means you need to stay safe. And Ingrid is a problem that Katherine and I have to fix," Elsa replied.

"Do you trust Katherine?" Anna asked.

"I do. She's my friend."

"Then go," Anna replied.

Elsa left the office.

Meanwhile, Regina's dark side had come out and she was having a tantrum over being sealed in her own vault.

Rumple was inside his shop, when Hook walked in.

"Where's the missus? She turn homicidal on you yet?"

"None of your business," Rumple replied.

"It's like swimming with sharks out there," Hook informed him. "Even if one of them gets a taste of blood, they'll tear each other apart."

"Well, count your blessings you're not one of them."

"Why was I spared the cloud's curse?"

"Because your heart wasn't in your chest, dearie. It was here in my shop in protective custody sort of speak."

"What is it you need, Crocodile?"

"Once I'm finished packing, I'm going to take Belle to the town line. I need you to find Henry and do the same thing."

"So you still think you're leaving," Hook replied.

"Oh, ye of little faith," Rumple said with a chuckle. "Tomorrow night, when the stars in the sky align with the stars on the hat, I shall finally cleave myself of this dagger and be on the other side of that ice wall before dawn."

"Are you saying there's a bloody way out of here?" Hook inquired.

"The Dark One always finds a way," he replied.

"Well, if The Dark One is so powerful, why doesn't he magic his grandson to his side?"

"Because that would require me knowing where his mothers have locked him away for safe keeping. Now, unless you really really have no need for that tongue, I say you stay outside in the hostile current and find Henry."

"You won't win. Villains never do," Hook reminded him.

"Don't be ridiculous, dearie. When Belle and Henry wake up tomorrow morning in New York City, they won't remember a thing about tonight." He informed him that he'd be informing them that he got everyone out that he could. Then he added, "I won't be a villain. I'll be a hero."

Hook left the shop without a word, not liking the idea.

Ingrid left the ice cream shop with a memory pebble.

"Stop," Katherine said, once she was outside, and Ingrid did as she was told.

"This has to stop, Ingrid," Elsa said.

"Your magic is a part of us now. We control it and we control it really well."

"I'm so proud of you both," Ingrid replied. "You've finally embraced who you truly are."

They tried to use magic on her, but it wasn't working. They looked at the ribbons, as they glowed.

"The love that runs through our ribbons is without equal," Ingrid informed them. "Its strength protects the life force that we all now share."

Elsa looked at Katherine.

"She's made it impossible for us to hurt her."

"We gotta get these things off," Katherine replied to Elsa.

"There's no need. Soon, you won't want to hurt me," Ingrid interjected. "Soon, you will love me. For real."

Katherine and Elsa entered the shop. After looking around and calling for Gold and Belle, and finding no one and there was nobody answering back, Katherine turned around to look at Elsa.

"They're gone."

"Then what do we do?" Elsa wanted to know.

Katherine stood there for a moment, before getting an idea.

"We do it ourselves."

Katherine found a big knife and began trying to cut the ribbon off.

Charming and Snow were still arguing with each other.

"That's ridiculous," Charming replied to Snow.

"If you knew how to swaddle our child correctly," Snow replied.

"I swaddled him perfectly."

"He's a baby. Not a breakfast burrito."

Anna tried to intervene to stop them from arguing, since their child was asleep and she didn't want their arguing to wake him up, but it didn't work out.

Katherine was still trying to cut her ribbon off, but it wasn't working.

Katherine stopped trying, but then she had the idea that someone's amplified hatred could get the ribbons off, so she and Elsa went to Regina's vault.

Once they were a distance away from her vault, Katherine stopped walking and picked up a rock.

"Okay. Stand back," she told Elsa. Then she threw the rock at the vault and it bounced off and hit the ground. She announced the kind of spell it was. Then she took the spell down. "The next part should be easy for me," she said, walking up to the vault.

"What's that?" Elsa asked.

"Being prickly," Katherine replied, using the words that Elsa had said Katherine was in the shop earlier when they'd been trying to figure out a way to get rid of the ribbons. Then she entered the vault with Elsa and seeing her, she took a step back, being cautious of her. She knew from the book and her time traveling with Hook that her dark side was worse than she had been as a vampire.

Regina stood up from where she'd been sitting in a chair.

"You. I was just reading up on how to turn you into a garden topiary."

Katherine was silent, trying to figure out what to say to that.

"What's she doing here?" Regina inquired, seeing Elsa with her.

"I wanted to see your face when you learn the truth," Elsa said, playing along with Katherine.

"The truth about what?"

"I lied. I wanted to see your happiness ruined and do the exact same thing Snow White did."

"I've been waiting a long time for this," Regina said, and a fireball appeared in her hand and she through it at them. The fireball made the ribbons disappear and Katherine used magic to throw Regina to the floor.

"Let's get out of here," Katherine said.

Katherine and Elsa ran out of the vault and through the cemetery, as Regina yelled Katherine's last name in rage.

Hook went to Regina's office, assuming he was there, which he was. Rumple had given him a potion of some kind which he was able to use to get rid of the spell that Regina had cast on the door. Henry didn't go with Hook though. He ran off when Hook fell to the floor, not expecting marbles on the floor in front of the door.

Hook got to the floor and was going to go after Henry, when Will found him to pay him back for "the shiny you gave me." Hook easily through him to a wall though and then went after Henry.

Katherine and Elsa entered Ingrid's snow cave.

Meanwhile, Regina in her Evil Queen dressage, entered the sheriff's station and saw both Snow and Charming there and said, "Well, well; If this isn't my lucky day. I had come here to kill Katherine, but now I get to kill the two idiots that started it all."

"Hey, I wasn't the one that told Cora about your secret boyfriend," Charming said.

"Are you selling me out?" Snow asked him.

"Shut up! You both deserve to die." She looked at Snow. "Not for just what you did." She looked at Charming. "But for your whining." She looked at them both. "But your punishment should fit your crimes. Mary Margaret, you took my first true love from me. Now I'm going to return the favor. By taking your baby."

"No!" Snow yelled at her.

"Regina!" Charming yelled at her.

Anna tried to talk Regina out of it and then added, "You don't really hate Mary Margaret and David."

"It does sound like she has her reasons," Kristoff commented.

"Kristoff?" Anna said.

"I don't know who you are, but why don't you go back to where you came from," Regina said, and magically made Kristoff and Anna disappear in a cloud of purple magic. She then looked at Snow. "Where was I?" She magically opened the cell door.

"You're using your magic, Regina. Afraid to get your hands dirty?"

"I don't need magic to kill you. Magic is too good for you." She magically made a sword appear in Snow's hand and her own hand. "I want to see you bleed." Then she readied her sword.

"You two have no idea how long I've waited for this moment," Ingrid said from behind them, and they turned around to see her. Then she noticed that their ribbons were gone. "Your ribbons. What have you done?"

"I'm not much for accessories," Katherine replied.

"Those ribbons joined us together," Ingrid replied.

"Get it through your head, lady. We're not your sisters and we're never going to love you."

Ingrid sat down.

"I know you actually believe that and it makes me sad. But I know that sadness won't last, because soon you'll see. You're wrong." She brought out a pebble and informed them that there was a time that Elsa had loved her very much and the good memories were in the pebble. Ingrid believed that if someone loved you once, they could love you again.

Anna and Kristoff were back on the beach, because Regina had tried sending them back where they came from and that was the closest place. That's when Anna found a bottle with a note and she immediately realized what it was. In order to get it out of the bottle, she had to knock him out with it. Then she said she'd be back and she headed for the cave Ingrid lived at.

"I'm sorry, Katherine. I can't hurt her," Elsa said.

"Well, I can," Katherine said.

She was about to throw magic at Ingrid, when Anna came rushing in.

"Wait!"

"Anna, don't. She's too dangerous," Elsa warned.

"You should listen to my sister and go," Ingrid warned Anna.

"Your sister? She's mine. And whatever you're going to do, well, don't." She looked at Elsa. "Elsa, I found this on the beach. It's from our mother. She must've thrown it into the ocean before their ship sank. It came over in the portal with us."

"Just be careful," Katherine warned.

"No. I'm not going to be careful. She needs to hear this. You all do."

She read what it said, which said that their mother regretted her decision to put Ingrid in the urn and she loved Ingrid and she regretted wanting to do something with Elsa's powers too.

Ingrid thought she was lying and took it from her, only to find out that it was exactly as Anna had read.

"What have I done?" Ingrid said. "I need to reverse this." She walked over to her mirror.

"You can't. It's the only way to—," Anna began.

"I know. I have to destroy myself," Ingrid said. "There's no other way. I am a monster, but not because of my powers. Because of what I let them turn me into. I have to undo this."

"No, Ingrid. You'll die," Elsa said.

"I know. It's okay. Elsa, Anna, you found each other. And Katherine. You found a family. Even if it wasn't with me. You deserve your memories. You three are so special." She gave Elsa her memories back. "Never forget that."

She magically made the mirror parts circle her and then she disappeared when the spell was broken.

Snow began to fall.

"She sacrificed herself for us," Katherine stated. "For all of us."

"Anna," Elsa said.

"Elsa," Anna said.

Anna and Elsa hugged.

When the spell broke, Snow and Regina whom had been sword fighting, let go of each other and dropped their swords.

Regina looked at her clothes.

"What am I wearing?"

Then the three of them had a laugh.

Katherine, Anna, and Elsa were walking through the town as it snowed.

"Katherine!" Snow called to her whom was pushing the stroller. Charming and Regina were at her sides.

Katherine went over to them and hugged Charming and then Snow.

Henry came over.

"Mom!"

"Henry," Regina said.

Henry and Regina hugged.

Katherine let go of Snow.

Henry turned to Katherine and then they hugged.

"And he's finally waking," Charming said, seeing that their baby was waking up finally after sleeping through all the commotion.

Snow tried to apologize, but Charming told her, "We were under a curse. It's okay." Then he and Snow kissed.

Hook entered the shop and informed Rumple whom was watching Belle sleep in the bed, "Henry got away."

Rumple turned to look at him.

"So you failed kidnapping a child."

"Well, perhaps you could say my heart wasn't in it."

"The Snow Queen's plan also failed. But mine won't. Enjoy the snow fall, dearie. It'll be your last."

"Then grant me one dying wish."

"I'm in the business of making deals with you anymore."

"Leave Katherine and the rest of Storybrooke be," Hook told him. "There's no need to harm them."

"When I step over that town line with my magic intact, Katherine and Storybrooke have nothing to fear from me. As long as they don't get in my way. But I can't make that promise to the rest of the world."

Rumple left the shop, putting his coat on.

 **Ch.70: Heroes and Villains**

It was a cold day. Snow, Kristoff, Anna, Elsa, Katherine, Henry, and Hook stood where the ice wall was.

"Wow. That's a lot of ice," Anna commented.

"And It's time for it to come down," Elsa replied.

Elsa approached the wall and used magic to bring it down which, this time, worked.

"Okay. Now can we go back home?" Anna asked, skipping towards the line.

"Stop! Don't take another step!" Katherine warned. "That's the town line." Katherine then went to stand by Anna whom had stopped at the warning.

"Right," Anna said. "But I wanna leave the town. Didn't I just say that?"

"The wall may be down, but I sense that some of Ingrid's magic remains." Katherine reached her hand out and there was a barrier on the line. "Yeah. There's a protection spell on the town line."

"So, how do we get back home?" Anna asked.

"Well, walking there won't get us there anyway," Elsa informed Anna. "We're in a different realm."

"We need to find a portal. Or magic beans or something," Katherine told them.

"Okay. Now I'm lost," Kristoff said, not understanding.

"Well, then let's get one of those things. We have to hurry," Anna told her.

"We don't need to rush. We need to be careful. Arendelle will still be there while we figure this out," Elsa told her.

"It might not." Anna turned to Kristoff. "Did we forget to tell her?"

"Well, a lot of stuff was going on," Kristoff replied.

"Tell me what?" Elsa asked.

"Arendelle's been conquered. By Hans and his twelve brothers."

"Katherine, we need to find a way back. Now," Elsa said, looking at Katherine.

"I'll do my best," Katherine replied.

Hook left them there silently to inform Rumple of the situation. Rumple wasn't happy, because that meant it would make it much more difficult for him to leave town without a look back.

When Rumple woke Belle, he let her know after breakfast that he'd be taking her to New York and to pack a suitcase.

Later, Rumple and Hook went to the sorcerer's house to find a portal, in which they found with the help of the walking broom.

Henry came into the shop to see Belle trying to close a suitcase.

"Hey, grandma. Going on a trip?"

"Yeah. Rumple's taking me to New York for a while."

"But the Snow Queen left a spell on the town line. Anyone that goes can't return. Didn't you hear?"

"No," Belle replied. "I didn't." Then he told her that the book had all the bad things that had happened to Regina and Belle told him she was on a much better path now. Then she asked Henry to help her find a much better suitcase, in which he did. That's when she discovered that a certain knight-like arm was in the shop. "I didn't expect to see this here," she stated, knowing what it was.

Hook entered the diner.

"Pierce. Come to celebrate," he said, walking over to where Katherine was sitting at a booth with Kristoff, Elsa, and Anna. "I may not be the Savior, but I may have just saved the day."

He poured a little bit of his rum into a couple cups at the bar and Katherine stood by him.

"Okay. What are we celebrating?"

"The portal to Arendelle." He handed her a cup and she took it. "I found it. So, bottoms up." He took a drank from his cup.

"You found a portal?"

"Well, I found Gold. And he told me how to locate one. A doorway in the ballroom of a mansion. Yes, it seems our Rumpelstiltskin has turned over a new leaf."

"Apparently, dozens of leaves. You sure we can trust him?"

"Positive," Hook replied, though it was Rumple that was saying that, since he was controlling Hook with his heart at the moment. "The Crocodile truly has changed."

Katherine noticed that something was up with him, though and she asked him what was wrong, but he said everything was fine, though she knew that it wasn't. Then he left.

They found the door and they went through the door, but before Anna went through she informed them that she knew Gold and stated that all he did was lie. That's when Katherine realized that he'd played them. So she, Charming, and Snow looked for him and soon found him and Hook at the clock tower, Gold with Hook's heart in his hand and the hat having just aligned with the stars above.

"Gold, stop!" Katherine yelled at him.

"I'm sorry. I can't," Rumple replied. "I've waited too long for this. And I'm too close."

Katherine was about to use magic on him, but he froze everyone that had tried intervening.

"Not everything has gone to plan, but this next part I'm really going to enjoy," Rumple told Hook. Then he began to crush his heart, but found that he was unable to. "I don't understand. Why can't I…," he began, and then turned around to see Belle.

"Because I commanded you not to," Belle informed him. "Drop the heart," she ordered him, dagger in hand.

Rumple dropped it and Hook caught his heart before it could hit the floor.

"Now release everyone," Belle told him.

He did as told.

"And now, now you're going to take us to the town line, because we need to be alone for what comes next."

He did as she told him to. Then he said, "Belle, what are you doing?"

"Finally, facing the truth."

"No. Please, put the dagger down and let me explain."

"No. It's my turn to talk. Do you remember the first time you saved my life? You traded for me. I thought I saw something in you. Something good. I realized all the signs that I've been seeing are correct. You'd never give up power for me, Rumple. You never have. You never will."

"You don't understand," Rumple replied.

She informed him that the arm she found led her to the real dagger.

"I like the power," he admitted, and also informed her that he wanted them both to have it all.

"I just wanted you," she told him. "I wanted to be chosen. I tried to be everything for you, Rumple, but I wasn't. And I lost my way trying to help you find yourself. Not anymore."

"Please, Belle. I'll make it up to you. I've changed once before. I can do it again."

"You've never changed," she replied.

"Please," he pleaded with her.

"No. It's too late. Once I saw the man behind the beast. Now there's only a beast. Rumpelstiltskin, I command you to leave Storybrooke."

"Belle, please. I won't be able to come back," he pleaded.

"I know," she replied.

"I don't want to lose you," he replied.

"You already have."

"Belle, please. I'm afraid."

He stepped over the town line, but because there was no magic, he fell to the ground because of his leg.

"Belle? Belle, please."

Belle stood by the town line, sobbing.

In Arendelle, Anna and Kristoff were getting married after they'd all gotten Arendelle back from Hans and his brothers.

Katherine stood in front of Hook outside the apartment with his heart in her hands, trying to find out how she was supposed to put it back inside him.

"Just be gent—," he began, but was cut off when she put the heart back in him, since it hurt when he did so.

"Sorry. I just thought if I put it in quickly, it wouldn't hurt as much," she apologized. Then he kissed her and she kissed back.

"I told you, Pierce. I'm a survivor."

Katherine found Regina at the bar, so she sat down next to her.

"I'm not in the mood for a hope speech," Regina said.

"You mistake me for Snow White. Besides, you don't need one. You need a drinking buddy. Shots?"

Regina was a little surprised at that and said, "Sure. Why not?"

They were about to drink, when Henry came in and informed them that he found something. They followed him to the house that they'd found the portal in and showed them that he'd found a library full of potential story books. Katherine hadn't known what was going on, so Regina informed her that they'd been looking for the author so he could write her a happier story.

"I'm in," Katherine stated.

"You are?" Regina asked.

"Everyone deserves a happy ending. Even you," she replied to her.

 **Ch.71: The Return/The Dragon**

Because Rumple's heart was nearly fully blackened, he enlisted a few villains and they went to Storybrooke to find the author and get him to write them happy endings. That didn't work out very well though; Especially, when Cruella De Vil kidnapped Henry so she could get Katherine to kill the author to save Henry. Katherine didn't do that, though. Instead, she killed Cruella to save him and they all found out that Zelena was back and pregnant with Robin's child. Rumple still searched for a way to get the author to change his fate though.

Upon Maleficent asking her to, Katherine found her daughter and brought her to her, but her daughter wanted to leave.

When she was at the bus stop, Regina found her and used some of her blood to activate the ink so the author could write their happy endings. Then Regina left.

When Maleficent was looking for her daughter in the truck, Charming driving and Katherine with them, her daughter was a dragon; a very angry one. All she wanted was revenge on Snow White and Prince Charming for past transgressions.

Katherine and Hook were looking at the horizon at the docks until Hook spoke.

"Katherine, I can tell that your heart is uneasy and it's my job, well, I hope it's my job, to protect your heart. Even when no one is physically trying to steal it," Hook told her.

"You don't have to stop me from going after Gold. I'm smarter than that," she assured him, though she was still mad at him for present transgressions. "He didn't turn my heart dark and I'm not going to fall into one of his traps."

"Well, I'm not worried about him getting to your heart."

"We talked about this," she reminded him.

"I talked. You walked away," he reminded her.

They began to talk about it and then she stated, "I like when people find their hearts along the way."

They found her in the woods, still in dragon form, and Maleficent began to approach.

"She looks like me," she said.

"Be careful," Snow warned her.

"She's my daughter," Maleficent said.

Her daughter wasn't in control, though and when Snow followed towards her, the dragon through her away with her tail and she hit her head.

Hook and Katherine approached in the woods, when they saw Charming with a cloth to the side of Snow's head.

"She hit her head. Hard," Charming told her.

"Stay still," Katherine instructed, and used magic to heal her and Snow's wound disappeared.

After Maleficent had a little chat with her daughter, she decided to stay for at least a week.

After Regina decided not to have the author write anything, realizing she already had everything she wanted, the author disappeared and went to where Rumple still was, at the shop, and the author began to write a happy ending for him.

 **Ch.72: Operation Mongoose Part 1 and Part 2/The New Dark One**

After the author put his touches on the new book, everyone except for Henry ended up inside the book, but then Henry found a way to get inside the book. Because he did, the author went in after him, not wanting Henry to change anything. He wanted to keep things how they were, which was villains having a happy ending and heroes not having happy endings.

Later, Henry went in search of Regina, in which he soon found in the heart of the woods, living as Snow White had once been living. He told her he was her son and told her about the book they were all trapped in, but she didn't believe him.

When the author went looking for where Henry had gone to, he got captured and taken to the queen whom wasn't Snow White in this reality. He was spared though, when he told her that he knew exactly where Regina was and wanted her to kill both Regina and Henry.

When the Queen found Regina, she was about to kill her, but was stopped when Robin Hood came by on horseback.

As he rode the horse, her behind him, she told him though, "I had the situation under control."

"A simple thank you would suffice," he replied.

She and Robin walked into the cavern, as she said, "I told you. I didn't need rescuing."

"Believe me, I'm already questioning helping the competition."

She laughed.

"Competition?" Then she recognized him, as he went over to a table. "Robin Hood?"

"Well, I'm not Friar Tuck," he replied, grabbing a cloth. "Now. Hold still please, m'lady."

"Why?"

"Because this may sting a little."

He poured a little bit of a cup of whiskey onto her hand that had a cut on it.

"Now, sit down before you pass out," he instructed, grabbing a cloth and tying it around her hand.

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch," she replied.

They gave each other a look, before they both sat down at the table.

She set down a gold coin in front of him.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Your cut."

"You still can't say thank you. Can you?"

After a moment, she said, "Thank you."

"And thank you." He raised a mug with a drink in it. "So, to new friends and old rivals."

They clanked their mugs together and he gave a smile at her. Then they both took a drink from their mugs. He then noticed her look.

"What is it?" he wanted to know.

"Just thought you'd be dirtier," she replied.

"Well, thank you. I choose to take that as a compliment. Regina, while we may have never met, I always admired your skills. I'm getting out of this game and I have a proposition for you. I'm in search of someone to take my place as leader of the Merry Men."

"Oh…I'm flattered, but can't accept. This forest isn't a place for me anymore."

"Well, that's a shame."

"So, what's driving you out of the business?" she wanted to know.

"Have you ever met someone that you would change your entire world for? Someone's eyes you just knew you were born to gaze into? I have. And that's why I can't be a thief anymore. It wouldn't be fair to my new bride."

"Bride?" she inquired.

"Well, we will be married later today."

Robin's bride walked in whom just so happened to be Zelena and they shared a kiss.

Regina looked away from them.

When Regina left the cavern, Henry found her and when he found out that Robin and Zelena were getting married later, he told her they had to stop the wedding. Regina didn't want any part of it though, because she believed now that she'd never find true love and that it was hopeless. Then they began to talk about Katherine whom Regina said that Snow White locked away years ago. That's when Henry left her to go find Hook so they could find her.

Meanwhile, the author had come to Rumple and informed him of Henry whom was going to try and turn everything around. He figured that Rumple would make the right choice.

Soon enough, Hook and Henry found where Katherine was being held and Henry got her out of the room and unchained.

On the way down, once they went down all the stairs, Hook appeared and she and Hook ran into each other. Though she remembered everything, nobody but Henry did, so Henry did a short introduction. Then they got out of there and back to the ship and took down Lily, Maleficent's daughter.

As the ship sailed, Hook was curious about something.

"Let me ask you something. You trusted me with your life just now. Why?"

"It's complicated," she answered him, knowing he didn't remember what she remembered. "Might take a while."

"My schedule's pretty clear," he replied.

"Okay. Let's first work on your fighting skills. Then we have to help Regina stop that wedding."

Soon enough, they were back on land and she had informed him of everything.

"You're telling me that in this other reality, that I'm an expert on such a weapon."

"You're a regular Jack Sparrow," she replied. "Let me show you how to use it."

After she showed him, he told her, "Tell me more about this reality you want to return to. Us. For example, I sense that we may be close."

"Very," she replied.

"Really? Well, I'm starting to get jealous of the other me."

"Let's see what food Henry has discovered. I'm starving," she replied.

She was about to walk away with Hook, when Lily showed up with Snow White and Prince Charming and a few of their knights.

When the Queen made a comment about almost not recognizing her, Katherine had to say back, "At the moment, it's hard to recognize either of you. This isn't who you are."

"Tell me, who are we?" the queen wanted to know.

"You're Snow White and Prince Charming. You taught me how to be a hero and believe in hope. And now I need you to believe in it, too."

The queen didn't do as she said and instead wanted to get rid of hope, because of hope being a powerful thing.

At that moment, Henry appeared.

"Save your boy," Hook told Katherine.

Katherine disagreed with him, not wanting anything to happen to him, but when he told her that whatever happens to him won't matter because of this not being the real reality, she agreed with that partly and went over to where Henry was.

Hook began to fight against them, even though Katherine knew this version of him wouldn't be able to win against them. And she was right, because before she and Henry left, Katherine witnessed him lose.

"Katherine," Henry said, trying to get her to go with him. "We have to get out of here. Katherine."

When the queen through a fireball at them, that's when she ran off with Henry.

Regina was packing up, when Henry found her again.

"I don't have time for stories. I have to hit the road before the evil queen gets on my tail," Regina told him.

"Wait. I have someone else with me this time."

Katherine walked inside.

"Regina," she greeted.

"Let me guess. You're Katherine. I have to give him credit. Breaking you out of that tower couldn't have been easy."

"Henry, can you give us a minute?" Katherine asked him.

"Sure," he said, and went outside.

"Regina, what he said about this reality. It's all true."

"I doubt that," she replied to Katherine. "I'm wasting my time with a mad woman who calls herself the Savior."

"I can help," Katherine told her. "Your happiness is still a possibility. Your next step is going after the man you love."

"My happy ending isn't a man," Regina denied.

"Of course not. But love is a part of all happiness. And you have to be open to that. Go to Robin Hood. All you have to do is tell him how you feel."

"Oh. Is that all? Did you forget to mention the part where I have to crash his wedding?"

"What does your heart tell you?"

"I know what my heart says, but what if his doesn't say the same thing?"

"Isn't that a risk you're willing to take? I just watched the man I love die."

"Katherine, I'm sorry. That's horrible," was all Regina could say to that.

"The worst part is that I never told him that I loved him. Not once. I was too scared. Too scared that somehow saying it would make it real and change everything. But now I'll never have a chance to take that next step with him, because he's gone. Don't make the same mistake I did."

After Katherine's speech to her, Regina decided to do as Katherine asked.

They were outside the place where the marriage was about to happen, Regina deciding on how to do it, when Rumple arrived to try and stop them from crashing the wedding. Because of Rumple and because Regina didn't crash the wedding, it wasn't crashed, but when the wedding was over with and they came out and Robin saw Regina injured, he broke from the crowd to help her.

When Henry found out that he was the next author, he undid everything and everyone was sent back to where they had been before the alternate reality.

When Regina woke up, she was no longer injured and Henry was there. They hugged and then Katherine woke up and she and Henry hugged. Then Katherine raced to the apartment to find Hook, knowing that's where Hook had been before the alternate reality.

Once she made it to the apartment, she burst inside.

"Where is he? Where's Hook?" she asked Snow White and Prince Charming whom were hugging.

Charming pointed to the floor where the book was at.

"He was there right before we got dragged away."

"Everyone reappeared where they were before this whole mess started." Thinking that he wasn't coming back, she said, "No."

Hook said from where he stood on the stairs, "Sorry about the mess. I really needed to find that book. I'm usually a bit more tidier." He gave a smile.

They all looked up when he spoke and when he was done speaking, she rushed up the stairs, happy to see him alive.

Once in the loft where he was, she hugged him.

"Killian."

He lost his balance when they were hugging and fell on the bed.

She looked down at him and he gave a smile.

"How many time do I have to tell you, luv? I'm a survivor. Look, I didn't mean to cause any panic. I woke moments before they did and came up here looking for the boy."

"He's fine. Henry's fine," she assured him. "I'm just glad you are, too." She gave a sigh.

"What is it?" he asked.

She sat up in bed as did he.

"When I watched you die, I was afraid that I was never going to get a chance to tell you something."

"Tell me what?" he asked, assuming where this was going.

"I love you," she told him.

Belle rushed inside the shop, as Isaac, the former author, left with some keys, telling Belle, "He's all yours, lady."

"Belle, you came back for me," Rumple assumed, leaning against a glass counter.

"I came back to make sure you weren't going to try and hurt anyone else," Belle informed him, clearly angry.

"No. You don't understand," he began. He tried to use the glass counter to stay on his feet, but he fell to the floor.

"Rumple," Belle said and was instantly at his side.

Isaac was driving, on his way out of town, but stopped when the sheriff's car blocked his car. Then he saw Charming and Snow get out of the car and he knew that he was defeated.

Charming came over and got him out of the car, bringing him over to the sheriff's car.

Henry was at the table at his mother's office, both the original book and Isaac's book in front of him, quill in hand, when the apprentice arrived and walked over to him.

"It is tempting, isn't it? The quill?"

"I just keep thinking. Maybe I could use it just one more time?" Henry replied. "To bring back my dad?"

The apprentice sat next to him.

"Henry, not even an author can bring back the dead. No matter how much they might wish it."

"But Hook was dead and it brought him back to life," Henry replied.

"Hook's death was never real. It was fiction. Undid by Isaac thanks to you. It's been erased." He opened up Isaac's book. "See? All gone. Your father, Baelfire, died in the real world, and that sadly, can never be undone. The best way to show your love for those that are gone is to tell their stories." He opened up the original book. "These stories can never be erased, because they are the truth, and the truth is what you must write. I hope that you can resist the temptation. The quill. The power to change reality."

Henry broke the quill.

"No one should have that much power."

"It would seem this time that we have found the right person for the job."

At the shop, Rumple had finally woken up and Belle was helping him sit up.

"Hey, what's happening?" she asked him.

"It's my heart. The last flicker of red is disappearing."

"Your ability to love," Belle realized.

"At least, in the end, I got one last taste. We were happy in there. We were in love."

"I was already in love," Belle assured him. "Everything we had in the book, you could've had here. You could've been a good man with a good marriage for real. Why wasn't it good enough?"

"Because I didn't believe it," he confessed. "How could you love me?"

"I knew what I was getting, Rumple. I wasn't going to come back."

"But I made you do just that. There's a whole world out there, Belle, for you. Go with Will."

"I don't love Will, and I'm not letting you die alone."

"Go far away. When the man is gone, only The Dark One remains," he said, before collapsing again.

"Rumple. Rumple!" she said, and rested hands on either side of his face.

Everyone was at Granny's Diner celebrating.

Robin came over to where Regina sat at a booth with Henry.

"Hello," he greeted.

She and Robin kissed and then Robin sat in front of her.

"Not to puncture the party, but did you check on Zelena?"

"She's still locked up," she confirmed. "Still pregnant. But that's something we'll be able to deal with."

"Together," Robin added.

After Robin asked Regina out to a walk in the moonlight and Regina accepted, they left.

After Charming and Snow apologized to Hook for killing him, Belle rushed inside and over to them.

"Rumple. His heart. He says it's almost gone. And, uh, he's in great danger."

The apprentice tried to take the darkness out of his heart and put it inside the hat, hoping it would work. The darkness left his heart and went into the hat, but it was too much for the hat to handle and the darkness leaked out of the hat shortly after the apprentice put Rumple under a preservation spell. It tried to go into the apprentice to turned him into the Dark One, but Katherine got it out of him.

Once they got the apprentice in bed in the back of the shop and Katherine asked him what that was, the apprentice said that Merlin could stop it because he was the one that had made The Dark One to control the darkness.

Charming, Snow, Robin, Regina, and Hook went outside to search for the darkness. They couldn't see it, but Katherine could sense that it was still there, surrounding them.

A moment after she told them that, the darkness began to surround Regina.

"Regina!" Robin yelled. Robin looked to Katherine. "What's it doing?!" he asked over the sound of the whirlwind the darkness was making, as it surrounded Regina.

"What darkness does best. Snuffing out the light."

Robin ran towards the darkness, trying to stop it, but he got thrown back.

"That's not going to work on this thing!" she told him over the noise. "We have to do what the sorcerer did! We have to tether it to a person and contain it!"

Regina realized what Katherine was going to do and said, "No! There has to be another way."

"There isn't," Katherine replied. "You worked too hard to have your happiness destroyed."

"No!" Charming yelled at Katherine.

Katherine looked at them.

"You'll figure out a way to get the darkness out of me," she told them, believing they could find a way. "You're heroes."

Hook ran over to her.

"Katherine! Katherine, please! Don't do this."

"I love you," she said. They rested their foreheads against one another and then she pushed him back a little and made the darkness tether itself to her, instead.

After a few moments, she had disappeared and now the dagger was on the ground with her name on it.

Regina was yelling about Katherine being stupid when she had done that, while Hook picked up the dagger and tried commanding her back, but it didn't work. He didn't understand why it wasn't working, so Regina had to inform him that she wasn't in this world anymore. She was in a different land.

 **Ch.73: Enter Dark Katherine**

Although, they went to Camelot to find Merlin to have Merlin get rid of the darkness once and for all, it didn't work. So, when things were all said and done, she brought them all and herself back to Storybrooke, but with her own plans. She was back to her old ways because of the darkness, aiming to hurt people around her. Her being The Dark One, was almost as bad as Rumple. She was back to how she was when she'd been a vampire. They just didn't know what she was planning. Hook believed though, that whatever she may be planning, he could stop her because of their love they had. It had failed though. True love's kiss hadn't worked to bring her back from the darkness. She'd embraced the darkness as part of herself. Now they had to find a different way to save her from it and find out what she was after. The trouble was though, they only knew the human version that had shown up in town a few years ago. They didn't know the version she'd been before appearing in Storybrooke.

It was a dismal night, as Dark Katherine stood in the house that Zelena had once used as her own. Katherine was making plans there. Everyone was trying to find a way to save her from the darkness, but she didn't want to be saved, so she was going to do everything she could to stop them from trying to save her.

Meanwhile, the good guys were trying to figure out what she was planning and how to save Katherine from the darkness. They didn't exactly have any idea though, how to get the darkness out of her. They'd tried to do that in Camelot and that had failed tremendously. They didn't know her before she'd come to Storybrooke, so they only knew her after she'd come to Storybrooke and what she'd told them of her past life, as well as what the book told them. She'd been a bad person as a vampire and now, it seemed, she was reverting back to her old ways. They knew they had to somehow save her from herself, but they also needed to find out what she was planning.

The next night, Katherine found Whale. They were looking for a way to save her. Since she didn't want to be saved, she used Whale as their punishment. Then she captured Ruby and sent a black bird with a note, to Snow.

Snow, Charming, Regina, Robin, Hook, and Henry were thinking of a plan to find out how to stop her, when a black bird came to the window.

After she opened it, Snow took the note and the bird flew away. The note Katherine had sent to them read, _You should've left well enough alone. Now Whale has paid the price for your actions. Would you like to see someone closer to home pay the price? This is who I am, so accept it and move on._ Snow was the one that read the note out loud to everyone.

While everyone was discussing the issue, Hook left the apartment to go find Katherine. He didn't want anyone closer to home getting hurt. Maybe he could help her.

Meanwhile, Katherine was in the basement of the house with Ruby. She was informing her what her plan was for her; why she'd taken her.

"Don't worry. As long as they leave me to my own, it will all be over soon," she assured the werewolf. Then she went upstairs to plan for the next step in her plan. She was doing all of this for Hook. She had to fix her mistake. She couldn't let him remember that she'd turned him into a second Dark One. She had to fix it to save him. That memory was the only thing she'd made them all forget. They had to forget so everyone would be spared from Hook's wrath.

She walked over to the table and looked at the dreamcatcher there. Then, because she and Hook were connected by the darkness, she heard Hook calling her name. It sounded desperate, so she magically disappeared from the house and reappeared on a street by her car. That's when she saw him on a rooftop.

When she saw him on the roof, she magically made him appear in front of her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Katherine inquired of him, once she'd saved him.

"Well, I'm either optimistic or desperate or both. I need to know what happened between us in Camelot. Just tell me," he replied.

"It's not that easy," Katherine informed him.

"It can be. Whatever you did, whatever you're trying to atone for, I already forgive you. Come clean. I assure you, you've done no worse than I. I was a pirate for hundreds of years." He held up his hand showing him a ring. "You see this? It belonged to a man named Barnaby. Called me One-Hand Jones. I killed him in front of his wife, took his ring." He held up another finger that held a ring. "And this one. Edgar. I caught him drinking the captain's wine. I drowned him. Every ring is a sad story."

She stood just inches in front of him, holding the ring he'd given her in Camelot in her hand.

"What about this one?" she wanted to know.

"It's the saddest story of all. It belonged to my brother, Liam."

"You can have it back now," she offered him, knowing what it was like to lose someone very close to you.

"Keep it. I used to wear these rings as trophies. Now they're a reminder. All sins can be forgiven when someone loves you. Perhaps I was absolutely wrong before. I love you, Katherine Pierce, no matter what you've done."

"So you really want to know the truth, no matter how awful," she said.

"I do."

"Then there's something I need to show you."

She entered the house with Hook that she was staying at.

"I've already seen your house, Pierce. Why are we here?"

"The truth is tricky. You have to look for it," she explained to him.

"Alright, I'll play your game."

He went over to the telescope and looked into it.

"Well, I guess being the Dark One has its perks," he commented, once he'd seen something that he wasn't exactly expecting. It was a perfect view of the ocean.

"Back in Camelot, you said the ocean calmed you. I thought you might want to see it."

"You made yourself a fine home, I'll give you that," he commented.

"I didn't pick it. You did."

He turned around to see a newspaper folded on the table, which had the house circled and writing on it.

"That's my handwriting," he said.

"You said this was our future. Everything I've done is to keep that future alive."

"Well, I guess this is the moment you tell me the truth," Hook told her.

"Almost there. Almost," she replied.

A moment later, they were kissing.

She pulled away a few minutes later.

"I can't tell you everything until it's all over," she informed him.

Hook later woke up in the basement chained a small distance from Ruby. After some talk, they got themselves free of the chains and Ruby left, but Hook stayed behind.

When Katherine came into the room and he'd found the squid ink, he used it on her so he could get her to tell him what he wanted to know.

"Sorry, luv," he apologized. "I have no choice. Regina was right. You are a villain now. Now you're going to tell me what happened in Camelot to make you that way."

"How would you make me do that?" she inquired.

Zelena walked in, having figured out what Katherine had been up to.

"With some ideas," Zelena answered her. "I see you found the squid ink, Captain." Zelena stabbed him with a blade and he pulled it out and she held up a dreamcatcher, telling him to restore the memories that Katherine stole from him. "I found this outside."

Hook told Zelena, "Do it," wanting answers.

After the memories were returned, Zelena walked away to stand a ways away.

"I'm so sorry, Killian," Katherine apologized to him. "I did not have a choice."

"There has to be some other explanation," Hook said, not wanting to believe what the dreamcatcher had shown him.

"Are you finding the truth hard to swallow?" Zelena asked him. She then picked up the Excalibur sword from the floor and walked over to him, handing it to him. "Here. Have a look at the sword." She waved her hand over part of it and said, "Cloaking spell." She chuckled at that. "It was there the whole time, right under your nose, and you didn't even see it. Oh, I suppose it's not The Dark One anymore, is it? More like The Dark Ones."

"So, that's why you saved my life twice tonight," Hook commented. "I was never in any danger. You just wanted to keep me from the truth."

"I wanted to fix it to make up for what I've done," Katherine informed him. "Everything I've done since I got back to Storybrooke was to try and save you, Killian."

"This is saving? How could you do this to me?"

"I'm sorry."

"So much for our future, Pierce."

She was silent, not having anything else to say about what she'd done to him. There was a good reason why she'd done what she had, though they weren't good things that she'd done. All she'd wanted was to save him; fix her mistake by making someone else the Dark One.

Later that night, Katherine informed them of everything at her place, so now they had to figure out what he was going to do. She knew he was beyond angry at her, but she didn't know what he was going to do.

The next day, after Hook's visit to the shop to inform Rumple that he wanted to sword fight with him on the Jolly Roger at noon, where it all began, Belle and Rumple went to the others and informed them so they could figure out a way to stop him.

Because of everything she'd done, she'd lost their trust so they didn't want her help. They told her to stay home while they dealt with figuring out how to stop Hook. Regina did have Merida guard her though, just in case. That didn't work when Hook arrived, since he magically put Merida to sleep.

"A broken knee isn't like a broken heart," he began. "Isn't that right, Pierce?" Then he made a comment saying that he didn't expect her to be alone, but instead expected her to be researching with the others to find out how to stop him.

"That's not why you're here. You're here because you still have feelings for me," she assumed.

"Of course I still have feelings for you. Hatred, disappointment."

"You don't mean that."

"You tethered me to the Excalibur. You opened my eyes. I now see you for what you really are. An anchor. And I see clearly now that you are nothing more than a pretty, brunette distraction. But guess what, Pierce? I'm a free man now, and you're never holding me back from what I want again."

"The Darkness is using you," she informed him. "It doesn't care what you want. It only cares what it wants."

"Well, you're only a pawn if you don't know that you're being used. As long as I get what I want, I don't care about the rest. And you of all people should understand that."

"What I did, I did for you," she reminded him.

"You see, that's your problem, Pierce. You're so afraid of losing the people that you love, that you push them away. That's why you'll always be alone. You don't need some villain sweeping in to destroy your happiness. You do that quite well on your own."

"Why are you doing this?" she wanted to know.

"Because I want to hurt you like you hurt me."

She watched, as he walked away and left.

Later, she and Henry found out where the dreamcatchers were at, which was the clock tower and because she was willing to help save the day, he began to trust her again. Then they got the dreamcatchers so they could give everyone their memories back.

At noon, Rumple and Hook dueled and Rumple got the Excalibur sword and won. So, Hook vanished from the deck and Rumple met Belle at the well, as he'd promised her that he'd do if he won.

After getting their memories back, they realized what Hook was planning to do.

At the river that led to the underworld, Hook brought forth the former Dark Ones; all of them.

Katherine went to the river by herself to confront of him and tried to stop him from allowing the former Dark Ones to have a permanent foot in the living world. When she tried to persuade him, Neume magically began to choke her.

Hook was silent, looking at her for a few minutes, before turning to face Neume.

"That's enough."

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked him, still magically choking Katherine, but looking at Hook.

"Being the man I want to be."

"You can't stop us," she replied.

"Yes, I can," he replied, and raised the Excalibur sword, making the Dark Ones that had come from the underworld, be sucked into the sword.

Katherine knew what he was planning to do.

"Killian, you can't do this," she pleaded to him.

"We both know there's no other way, luv. We have to hurry. The Darkness won't stay trapped inside Excalibur much longer. Take it."

"No," she replied.

"You have to help me, Pierce. Take it."

"I can't lose you again," she replied.

"Your family needs you. If anyone deserves to go to the underworld, it's me. You're right. I was weak. So let me make up for it by being strong."

"I don't want to lose you," she replied to him.

"And I don't want to lose you," Hook replied to her. "You have to let me go. Let me die a hero. It's the man I want you to remember. Please."

She stepped towards him and took the sword from him and then told him, "I love you." Then she kissed him.

"I love you, too," he replied.

She pulled away from him a distance and looked at him.

Because she hesitated, he said, "It's okay."

She knew that he wanted her to remember him as a hero and to kill him, but though she hadn't had trouble killing Whale, she couldn't kill someone she loved. Technically, although he was a Dark One, she still was too. Because she could never kill someone she loved, no matter how much they wronged her, she had a different idea. After all, this wouldn't be the first time she'd be doing this, though it would be the first time of using an Excalibur sword to kill herself and save everyone else, including those she cared about.

"I'm sorry," she apologized to him. "I can't." Then she killed herself with the sword, instead of killing Hook.

A few weeks later, after being rescued from the underworld by Hook and the others, she returned to Storybrooke with them and they got their happy ending, for good this time.


	20. Unexpected Petrova Helper (Rumatherine)

OUAT/VD: Unexpected Petrova Helper (Rumatherine)

Characters: Kat, Rumple, Regina, Zelena, Gothel (mentioned), Ivy (mentioned), Ivy's mom (mentioned), Elijah (mentioned), Klaus (mentioned), Hope (mentioned), Elena (mentioned), Freya (mentioned), Henry (mentioned), Nadia (mentioned), Hook (mentioned), Alice (mentioned), Travelers (mentioned), Mr. and Mrs. Petrova (mentioned)

Summary: Set in OUAT S7. After Regina and Zelena wake up with their memories and Rumple is also awake, Kat ends up in Hyperion Heights after escaping the prison world and Kai, so technically this is also VD S7. When she ends up in town, she overhears Regina and Zelena and realizes that fairytales exist. She decides to help Regina and Zelena with everything. Can Henry be saved? Can the curse be broken? What will ensue?

Pairings:

Rumatherine

Rumbelle (mentioned)

Kalijah (mentioned)

It was a dismal night, as a human Katherine appeared in town. She'd never been in this town before, so she took a walk around. When she did, she saw something that resembled a bar half way through town. She saw the name of it made it seem to belong to someone named Ronnie. She decided to enter and sat at the bar. That's when she overheard them. She didn't have to know names to know who they were. She automatically recognized their faces from a couple fairytale stories she'd read as a little girl. Overhearing them talking about her son, magic, a curse, and some people she never heard of made her finally speak.

"If you need help, all you have to do is ask. I may not be from around here, but I'm the queen when it comes to plans. Plus, I've known since a few years ago that I'm descended from Travelers. They're different from your time, though. They've adapted so they're less like gypsies and more like witches. Besides, I know what it's like to watch your only child die. I wouldn't wish it upon anyone else. Especially, my greatest enemy whom also has a daughter. I'm going to help, despite the past you both have. People change, although you two are different from the stories. In my world, many things exist like vampires, werewolves, doppelgangers, hybrids, witches, and ghosts. Hell, I was a vampire for 548 years. Then Elijah left and I took everything out on my doppelganger, not knowing that she had the cure for vampirism in her pocket, and she shoved it down my throat. You can call me Katherine. Only Elijah and my former enemy Klaus get to call me Katerina. I changed my name 500 years ago, but they're stuck in the old times. They like to call me by my given name."

They looked at her, as she spoke.

"Thank you for the assistance then. We'd be glad for the help," Regina replied. "How about a drink? Then you can help us find a way to make sure Henry doesn't die when we break the curse."

Kat gave a smile at that.

"I'd love that."

Regina poured her a drink and, after the drink, Kat asked, "So, what exactly did this Ivy do to Henry? Breaking a curse or any spell is easy, but first I need to know the spell she used."

"I don't know," Regina admitted.

"Then I'll need Ivy. I can use a spell to see her memories. Then I'll know what she did."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Zelena inquired.

"I know you've got trust issues, but trust me, Zelena. Okay? I know how to get what I want. Human or vampire, I always get what I want and nothing will hold me back. Let's just say, if I was a fairytale, I'd be evil back when I was a vampire. Torture is my middle name and I'm quite good at killing. There's a reason why vampire me was called the baddest most evil bitch of all. No matter how bad Ivy is, she's no match for me. I was the queen, but obviously in a different way than Regina," she explained. She then looked at Regina again. "I can sneak into her place while she's asleep and look at her memories tonight. I'll meet you here tomorrow."

Regina agreed with her, so Kat did just that.

The next day, Kat came in and sat at the bar.

Regina went over to where she sat.

"Well?"

"I know the spell she did to Henry and I know she cast the Dark Curse. I just need you to point me to the direction of Henry and I can cure him. Then we can work together to undo the Dark Curse," Katherine replied.

"Well done, but how are you going to cure him?" she inquired.

"Not every spell requires ingredients where I'm from. I know he's your son, but don't worry. I know what to do. I lost my daughter to a werewolf bite because I was too weak to have the will to ask for the cure. I won't let you lose your son. His heart was poisoned, but it can be undone. Besides, I know Nadia would want me to be a better person and help those that need it. I'm doing this a little for her and a little for my possible redemption, but more for you. I know you lost almost everyone you love. I know that feeling. Elijah left when he felt like he couldn't trust me, to go follow Klaus to New Orleans. 500 years ago, Klaus slaughtered my parents. I lost Nadia too and everyone that knows me or knows of me either want me dead, hate me, or are afraid of me. You and I. Our stories are a lot alike. The only difference is that my father was the one that wasn't who he should've been. The other difference is you're a witch and I was a vampire when I did all those dastardly things. Elijah was the only person who ever stood by me through everything. He even deceived his brother to keep him from finding me. When Elijah left, I had no one. Then Nadia came and for a short time, we were a family again. Then I lost it all when she died. Then I died, ended up in a prison world for a while with a Gemini witch that isn't such a good guy, and I finally found a way out and that's when I suddenly appeared in town. At least in this town, no one will be planning to kill me behind my back. Maybe I'll even get a fresh start. Starting with saving your son and breaking this curse," she replied to her.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I'm glad you're here," Regina replied. Then she directed her to where Henry would be at and Kat did what she said she would. She cured him and then that night, when she returned, she helped Regina find a way to break the curse.

After a few days, she and Regina were finally able to break the curse and breaking it didn't harm Henry. Everyone that didn't remember during the curse, then remembered everything. It was good timing with breaking the curse too, since magic was needed to stop Gothel's plan that was enacted.

While everyone else had just woken up with their memories that hadn't before, Regina faced Gothel alone, which didn't work out very well. She magically through her, knocking Regina out and Henry arrived a few minutes later as well as did Katherine. She saw what she was doing with the fire at the well and magically through Gothel away from it. Then she used one of the many tricks she knew from being around witches all these years. She made an invisible force field around her, keeping her from going anywhere. And as the others arrived, Katherine approached. She'd thought long and hard of what to do with this witch. Part of her wanted to kill her, but the other part knew there was a much more better punishment for her. And she had all the ingredients she needed to create the place she was going to put her in.

"You know, I may know what it feels like to be an outcast and be alone, but I never did choose hate, even when I was on a dark path. Even then, I never once put a child in danger. I guess it's because I once had a daughter myself. After everything you've done, I'd love nothing more than to kill you, but since I'm trying to be a better person and there are things that are much worse than death, I think I'll choose to let you live. You can think about what you've done while you're trapped inside a dimension called a prison world. In this one though, there won't be an ascendant to help you escape. This is your punishment for everything you've done."

Katherine used the ingredients, making a prison world, and Gothel was trapped in it forever. When that happened, everything Gothel had done in terms of magic had been undone, although Ivy's mother was still gone.

After Gothel was trapped and everyone reunited, she realized that Henry wasn't the only one that had been poisoned in the fairytale land, so she cured Hook as well, which let him and Alice be able to touch again.

When everything was said and done, Katherine left to go figure out what to do next, leaving everyone to their happiness. She didn't have happiness. Hers had been Elijah, but they were over, despite the fact that she knew he'd do anything to save her if she was in trouble. She'd do anything for him if he was in trouble, too. She didn't know what she'd do next, since she'd helped save everyone and break the curse. She'd even imprisoned Gothel forever. Then, after thinking things through, she decided to check on Rumple. Throughout the whole thing with figuring out how to break the curse, she'd been filled in on a lot of things, so she knew what Rumple was going through. She wanted to help him.

When everyone was celebrating at the bar or pub place, whichever you'd call it, Kat entered and found where Rumple was. Sitting down in front of the table, looking at a photo album. She then got a couple of drinks and sat down next to him, sliding one over in front of him.

"You look like you could use one. Been there. Done that. I'd rather not do it again. You can call me Katherine. I already know who you are and what you're going through. Regina gave me a short summary while we were figuring out how to break the curse. I'm sorry for your loss. I may not know what it's like to be immortal and have to watch your love die of old age, but I know what it's like to watch someone you love die. I also know what it's like to have to die of old age. I know you want nothing more than to be reunited with Belle and I don't blame you, but it's better if you just live your life as she'd want you to, just as I'm doing for my daughter. I can help you sever the connection between you and that dagger, but I think Belle would want you to live your life and be happy until it's your time. Believe me, If I could, I'd be reunited with Nadia, but that'll never happen. She found peace. There's no way I could resurrect her," she greeted and informed him.

He began to drink, but after she said all of those things and he'd finished, he looked at her.

"What makes you think you know us so well? How would you be able to help me? You're not from a fairytale land," he replied.

"Believe me, I used to have trust issues too. Big ones. I still have trust issues, but I have a lot of things in common with those of you whom used to be villains. I've been on the side of bad, but also I've been on the side of good. I know both sides. I told you of Nadia. She told me a few years ago about a past from our family that I wasn't aware of. I'm descended from Travelers, which is why I had magic when none of you had any during the curse. You may know them as gypsies, but they've adapted with the times. I don't want to be a part of their family, but we don't choose our family usually. I've learned what I can do with my magic by using what I know from witches. I was able to cure both of their hearts through some magic I learned from Freya. I was able to trap Gothel in a prison world by copying what I know a Bennett witch once did. I can sever the link you and the dagger have through a spell I know. In my world, there's a certain spell you can use to link someone to an object or a person. There's also a spell to unlink someone from an object or person. You've been trying for quite some time and haven't succeeded. I know I'm a stranger, but I think it's time that you trust someone. It's time that you trust me. I can help you. Trust is all that I ask of you."

"What's the price? Magic always comes with a price," he wanted to know.

"No price. Where I'm from, only some magic comes with a price. The magic I have to perform has no price. If there was a price, I'd tell you. Unlike other people, I don't keep secrets from others unless they're my enemy. I don't want any enemies in this town. I want to start over. I want to be a good person. I want to be the person Nadia had belief that I could someday be. That starts with helping others, no matter what their past is."

After her answer, he decided to take a leap of faith. He'd do anything to be reunited with Belle and to sever ties with the dagger, so he could be fully human again.

"Very well then. You have my trust," he replied.

She gave a smile at that and finished her drink.

That night, she severed the link between him and the dagger, as she promised, and, after a month, she and Rumple found new happiness with each other. They both had thought that they'd never be happy again after losing those they loved, but they'd found it anyway.


End file.
